Angel Wings
by darkestdepths90
Summary: During the fight on the bridge, a new power emerges that could even threaten Kyuubi no Kitsune. Don't own Naruto
1. Chapter 1

"**I'm going to kill you!"** Naruto rushes forward, his eyes red with slit pupils and his nails now claws. The mirror shatters and the masked boy jumps out, trying to dive a needle into the back of his neck. He rolls out of the way and dust is kicked up by the impact. The masked boy tries to get into another mirror, but is grabbed by Naruto. Naruto's chakra skyrockets and the mirrors fall to the ground. He charges his chakra into his hand and lands a powerful hit to the boy's mask, sending him tumbling across the bridge.

Naruto charges again as the mask cracks and falls. He is in midair when he sees the boy's face, recognizing it as the boy he met in the forest the day before. His once red eyes turn back to their original cerulean color. Just before he reaches the boy, another ice mirror comes up between them. Unable to stop or dodge, Naruto smashes into it and is sent to the ground in a heap.

The boy moves to his side cautiously and finds him unconscious. Just as he's about to finish him, he hears the sound of birds chirping. "Zabuza." Without a moment's hesitation, he rushes to Zabuza's side. The hand of Naruto's sensei, Kakashi, impales his chest. He removes the hand and the boy falls to the ground.

Clapping comes from behind them from the short businessman Gato. "It seems that the Demon of the Hidden Mist is a baby demon at best. That brat of your was weak and useless. I'll pay double to the one who brings me his head."

"It seems that we don't have to continue this Kakashi." Staining his arm, he picks up his zanbato and runs towards Gato's small army. He slices through the army, until he reaches Gato, whose head makes a splash in the sea. Zabuza stumbles over to where Kakashi stands and collapses. "Kakashi, could you bring Haku over to me?" Kakashi picks up the boy and lays him beside Zabuza, who bandages fell during his slaughter of Gato's men. It begins to snow. "Haku, are you crying? I wish I could go to the same place as you."

Zabuza dies of his wounds and the small army is regrouping. "He killed our meal ticket, now we have to go raid the village." A crossbow bolt sticks into the man's forehead, Inari and the villagers stand at the end of the bridge.

"Not one of you is stepping foot on our country again!" Kakashi creates a line of Shadow Clones that stretches to both sides of the bridge. The men easily become scared and jump off the bridge to escape.

Unseen by everyone, a colossal gate appears at the unfinished end of the bridge. The doors swing open slowly and two figures walk out, one man and one woman. They both have feathered capes, the man's black, the woman's white, their hair the same color as their capes. Their clothes were gray, both pants and sleeveless shirts. **"What a performance."**

"**I agree. I haven't been this assumed in some time."**

"**Nor I, but let's make it more interesting."**

"**What do you have in mind brother?"**

"**Let's bestow upon two mortals some of our power and see what they do with it."**

"**They will have to be strong willed individuals to withstand the power."**

"**Yes indeed, and I have found such a person in that boy there."**

"**You mean the one who contains the demon?"** The black clad man nods. **"Do you really think he can handle both yours and the demon's power?"**

"**I believe he can, but if not, your choice will be able to stop him. You must hurry and choose, we must keep balance in this world."**

"**Very well, I'll leave now. When I find the other, I'll contact you."** The cape turns out to be wings and she takes off into the sky. A noise from within the gate made the man turn around. The dark outline of a giant man was in the gateway.

**"You know that if you do this that the two will be connected to each other, do you not?"**

**"Yes we do, but with the power we're giving them, they could change the world, for either good or evil."**

**"Just having power is nothing if they don't know how to use it. That boy is powerful, even without thw demon. Kee an eye on him, with too much power, he could enter our realm and his demon doesn't care for us much."**

**"What demon does? Besides, Kyuubi is no match for you and in our realm it is even weaker then it is now."**

**"You underestimate the boy, he would be nearly unstoppable. You could not have found a being with more will power than this boy. Were he ever to cross over, he would be a god."** The giant walked back into the darkness of the gate.

**'Brother, I'm ready.'**

**'Very well, then let us begin.'** He walked past the villagers who were removing the dead, a pink haired girl who was crying over a boy's body, Kakashi sitting with a glazed over look, and more villagers before reaching the boy. He spread his wings and summoned a black ball into the palm of his hand. **'In three, two, one, and NOW!'** He shoved the ball into Naruto's chest.

Naruto's body starts to shake violently, catching the attention of the people around him. The daze Kakashi rushed to his side as powerful wave of energy erupted from him. The winged man smirks. **'Is it done brother?'**

**'Yes it is, now return so we can leave.'**

**'It will be just a moment.' **He started back to the gate the boy who was being wept over was awake and trying to get over to Naruto. The villagers were all around him, looking concerned.

He had just reached the gate as his sister landed. **"Since you know of mine, who is yours?"**

**"A girl from the same village as yours."**

**"Must you do everything opposite of me?"**

**"Actually, yes. Like you and I, these two are complete opposites. The only things they have in common other than where they live, is the desire to prove themselves and their age."**

**"I see, you picked _that_ girl, that will certainly make this entertaining, but I have been warned to keep an eye on this one. His will power is far beyond what I had first thought, so much so that Lord Exodus came himself."**

**"What did he say?"**

**"That we are to make sure the boy never crosses over to our realm, because if he did, almost nothing could stop him."**

**"Not even the thirteen of them together?"**

**"He didn't say that, only that the boy would be a god if he did."**

**"Are we going to help them learn how to use our gifts?"**

**"I suppose we could, but for now we'll wait and see if they can do it themselves."** Together they walk back through the gate, the doors closing behind them.

--

Naruto opened his eyes and was staring at the ceiling. 'Tazuna's house?' He slowly sat up, his body protesting with pain. 'What happened?' Pushing himself to his feet, the stumbled out of the room. While he was going down the stairs, his legs gave out and he fell down the rest, crushing to the bottom. "Damn that hurt." He rubbed the back of his head where it met the last step.

Tsunami came running up to him. "Are you alright Naruto?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. How long was I out?"

"Just about two days. You should really take it easy, you going to be kind of stiff for a little while."

"Maybe you're right. I'm gonna walk around a bit outside to work the chinks out."

"Just don't do anything too demanding, you could really hurt yourself."

"I wouldn't think of it."

"Like you think anyway."

Just past Tsunami, Sasuke sat at the kitchen table. Naruto's mouth hung open. "Sasuke?" Naruto rubbed his eyes, but everything stayed the same. "You're alive."

"The needles missed just barely, either he made a mistake, or he intend to make it look like I died."

"What happened?"

"I'm not really sure, when I came to, the villagers were at the bridge, Zabuza and his partner Haku were dead and you were unconscious. You were also shaking and emitting a high level of power. I want to know where it came from."

"Your guess is as good as mine."

"So you're saying you don't know what that power was?"

"If I did, I would have used it to stomp you into the ground before. Now that I know it's there, I'm going to try to harness it." 'Damn that fox, what's it trying to do now?' "See ya later Sasuke, I'm gonna go for a walk."

"There's a reason why I'm here instead of with Kakashi and Sakura."

"To rub the fact that your Sharingan activated in my face?"

"No, now come on." Sasuke stood up and walked towards the door with Naruto just behind. Sasuke led him to a cliff, not far from the bridge, that looked over the sea. There near the edge was Zabuza's sword sticking into the ground, the pieces of Haku's mask resting against it. "Kakashi decided to bury them. He told me to bring you here when you woke up."

"Thanks, even if you didn't want to do it."

"I've done worse jobs before. Like catching that damn cat over and over."

Naruto smiled. "We should just kill it next time."

"Who says there will be a next time?"

"Are you kidding, when the old man hears about this, we'll never be able to do a higher mission until we're promoted."

"We finished it didn't we?"

"Yes, but the two of us nearly died, Sakura didn't do shit, as usual, and the only reason we finished is because of Kakashi. He's gonna raise requirements for mission ranks, and we'll be stuck doing D-ranks until we're at least chunin."

"You really think he'll do that?"

"I know he will. He looks at the village like everyone is his family, and because of that, he'll do everything it his power to protect us, even if it's against our will. He's a good leader, but a better person."

"I'm heading back, the others will be back by night fall for dinner."

"Thanks again Sasuke. I'll probably be back before them." Sasuke turned and left the way they came. Naruto just stared at the grave for a few moments. "Haku, did I do this to you?" He went around the sword and sat down with his back against the side of the blade. He closes his eyes and finds himself in a sewer-like passage. He looks around. "Where the hell am I? Is this some kind of genjutsu?" He forms a seal. "Kai."

Nothing happens. "Great, not only do I not know where I am, but I can't feel my chakra either." Far down the tunnel, a red light appears. "What the hell, it's not like I know how to get out of here." As he gets closer, an ominous feeling overcomes him. He starts to question the smartness of deciding to walk towards the light. Despite these feeling, he continues to walk and is engulfed in the light. When he is able to see something other than red, he stares in awe at the room he entered.

The room was huge, he could not see either side walls or the ceiling, and directly in front of him was a large gate, which was only being held shut by a piece of paper that read 'Seal'. "Oh this just gets better and better." From deep within the darkness behind the gate, came a growl.

**"What do you want brat?"**

"Who are you and where are we?"

Laughter echoed in the room and a large pair of blood red eyes appeared behind the gate, followed by a large pointed tooth smile. **"You must be dumber than I thought. We are in your mind, and I am your worst nightmare, Kyuubi no Kitsune."**

"That's a laugh, you are a pleasant dream compared to my real worse nightmare. Since I'm here, are you the cause of that power surge Sasuke was talking about?"

**"I wish I had that kind of power over you. No, that was the work of another."**

"You mean something else is sealed in me too?"

**"Are you really this stupid? No mortal could handle the stress of having two other beings sealed within them, most can't handle even one."**

"Well, aren't I special. If it wasn't you then who was it?"

**"I suppode you could call him a fallen angel. He and his kind kill demons and angela out of envy, while demons reside in hell and angels in heaven, they had to find a place to reside. They found one that is alongside yours, and can see the things that go on in yours."**

"If they kill demons, why haven't you and the other demons gone and killed them?"

**"We cannot enter their realm and even if we could, our powers would be cut in half. it's the exact opposite of your world. He gave you power, what is unknown to me but I do know that in order to do so, his sister would have had to give power to another or your world would be ripped apart."**

"Great, so not only do I house a demon, but if I or this other person die, the world ends."

**"Is there something else, I was sleeping."**

"Just one more thing, did we kill Haku?"

**"No, you wussed out last minute and got knocked out. I'm going back to bed, night."** The eyes and teeth disappeared and Naruto head back the way he came.

--

One month later, the day before they were to start back to Konoha, Naruto was once again standing in front of the sword. Kakashi had told him what had happened on the bridge. He stared at the blade, deep in thought. 'Haku died to protect his precious person, and Sasuke nearly died to protect me, but is that enough to make him precious to me? All we really do is fight each other, the only things we have in common are the desire to grow stronger and to prove that we are better than each other, so we're rivals? Even if we aren't friends, I would get my life to protect him because we are teammates.'

"Hey loser, what up with you, you been kind of distant since you woke up after the fight on the bridge."

"I've had a lot on my mind."

Sasuke smirked. "That's a first."

"You're right, normally I don't think this long or hard on any one thing." Sasuke's smirk dropped. "What are we?"

"That's a pretty stupid question, we're shinobi."

"That's not what I meant. I mean you and I, are we friends, rivals, or just teammates, I'm having a hard time trying to determine the answer."

"I wouldn't really consider us friends, seeing as how we're always at each others throats. You're pretty decent in some aspects, but you could never keep up with me enough to be a rival. However, things change in unexpected ways, so who knows how things will turn out."

"Thanks Sasuke, I think I found my answer." He walks forward and places his hand on the sharp edge of the blade. He jerks his hand upward and cuts open his palm. "I swear that I will do everything in my power to protect those who mean the most to me. I am no one's tool and I never will be." His blood runs down the blade and when it touches the ground, the sword begins to glow red. The blade itself started to change, the half circle cut from the edge was no longer there. Instead, a fox head appeared on both sides, its jaws open, its ears pulled back, and its eyes as red as the blood still running down it.

The glowing died off and the blade was black and the lines of the engraved fox were white. "What did you do?"

"I have no idea, I just cut my hand on it because I don't have a kunai on me." Sasuke walked over and was about to grab the handle when a voice stopped him.

"I wouldn't do that." The two boys turn to see Kakashi reading from his orange book. "What he just did is something that skilled sword smiths usually have high paying customers do. Only someone who shares the blood that was placed on the blade, meaning Naruto and his family, can wield that sword now."

"What would happen if someone tried?"

"I don't know, it depends on the sword. It could be anything from a shock to burns, or even instant death."

"Yeah right, like a sword could deny someone from using it."

"If you don't believe me, go ahead and try, but neither he nor I will be held responsible." Sasuke was having a hard time trying to decide if he should believe Kakashi, in the end, he decide that Kakashi wouldn't joke about one of them getting hurt just to help another. He turned and walked away, heading back to Tazuna's house.

"Is what you said true?"

"Yes. You have to be careful where you leave that from now on. I suggest you use a storage scroll, especially since it has a fox engraved into it."

"I suppose, but I don't know anything about storage scrolls." Kakashi took out a scroll and started marking out kanji all over it.

"Here, that will do for now, but when we get back, I have some sealing scrolls you could borrow. Just place the sword on top and push some chakra into it, do the same to get it out."

He handed the scroll to Naruto and followed after Sasuke. Naruto pulled the sword from the ground to find it had kept the same shape expect that the hole near the end wasn't there anymore, in it's place was a spiral like the one on the back of his jacket. "I promise you Zabuza, I will put your sword to good use. Unfortunately, I do not know the name you used for it."

He closed his eyes as he thought and he heard a voice speaking within his mind that was neither his nor Kyuubi's. _'My name is Ittou Kabau.'_

He looked from the sword to the scroll. He unrolled the scroll and placed the sword on it before placing chakra into the scroll. In a puff of smoke the sword was gone, and in the center of the kanji Kakashi had written, was the kanji for sword. Smiling, Naruto rolled up the scroll and pocketed it. 'Ittou Kabau and power from a fallen angel, what an strange mission this turned into.'

Shaking his head, he started back to Tazuna's house. As he walked, he thought of ways to carry his sword without sealing it. He came up with several, but one stuck out among the others. But he would have to wait until he got back to Konoha, as he didn't have what he needed with him.


	2. Chapter 2

Every time that they stopped, no matter how tired he was, Naruto wanted to continue. He didn't know why, but he felt like he was being drawn to something, but he shrugged it off as being home sick. As they got closer, the feeling got stronger and stronger. They arrived at the gate around midnight and went they separate ways, deciding to see the Hokage in the morning.

Instead of going home, Naruto wandered around trying to find the source of the feeling. He was having a hard time, as it was moving quickly. 'Damn it, if I don't find it soon, I'm gonna go insane.'

**'It could be the other, it would be wise to know as they have the power to kill you if they want to.'**

'Even with both yours and the guy's power?'

'**They kill demons remember, his sister would have given them the power to stop you if you couldn't handle both.'**

'I hope it's not someone who hates me because of you then.' He followed the feeling to a small clearing with a waterfall. He couldn't see anyone there, but he knew they were. He jumped and landed silently in a nearby tree. He saw a silhouette on the water, moving in a dance like motion. He was too far away to see anything distinct, so he moved as quietly as possible to get closer. He hid behind a large boulder and peeked around it. His mouth was agape. He saw a girl, but the moon was to her back and hid her face. One word came to his mind, 'Beautiful'.

He felt a sharp pain in his back, but refused to make a sound, he slowly moved away as the pain became greater. His hand was over his shoulder trying to find the cause, what he didn't see, was that the girl was doing the same. He ran all the way home, almost as soon as he closed the door, he passed out from the pain.

--

Kakashi was standing in front of the Hokage with Sasuke and Sakura. "I'm sorry sir, he's normally on time."

"It's alright Kakashi, I've known him for sometime and he's not a morning person, but I'll go see him after we're done to make sure everything's okay. Now report." Kakashi began, and Sasuke spoke up when they came to the part where Kakashi was out from chakra exhaustion. Sandaime listened closely, shocked and angry at why transpired. When they finished, he dismissed Sasuke and Sakura, but had Kakashi stay. He made some hand seals and his chakra enveloped the room. "Do you have reason to believe the surge was the Kyuubi?"

"No, I felt Kyuubi's chakra used before that, but only for a few moments, this was like nothing I've ever felt before. Is it possible that he has a bloodline limit?"

"Anything is possible with Naruto. Only Arashi knew where he came from and he took it to his grave. For all I know, he might not have been from this village to begin with. Be sure to inform me if this happens again."

"I believe it already has, last night I felt it again, not nearly as powerful, but I also felt another source, but both were gone by the time I realized what it was."

"I see, I felt it as well, but I haven't received any complaints about it from any villagers or shinobi." His eyes widened slightly. "Kakashi, we have to get to Naruto's house now!" They both disappeared in a puff of smoke.

--

When Naruto woke up, the pain was gone. "What the hell was that?" He placed his hand on his back and felt something that wasn't there before. He turned his head slowly and nearly fainted from shock. His clothes were ripped open and two black-feathered wings were sticking out from his shoulder blades. At first he thought they were an illusion, and tried to dispel it, but they stayed in place. He decided to try and move them and he stretched them to full length, they reached five feet from tip to tip. "This is awesome!" He folded them up against his back, but they were still visible to the sides.

**'Kit, you do realize that that was your last set of clothes.'**

'Damn it, you're right. Oh well, I had to go get some things from shops today anyway.'

**'I suggest you hide your wings, I don't think these damn people will take kindly to them.'**

Naruto made a single seal. "Henge." He transformed into himself with clothes and no wings. He walked to the door and there was two pops behind him. He turned to find Kakashi and Sandaime.

"Naruto, are you alright?"

"Fine, why wouldn't I be?"

"You remember how you were told about the surge on the bridge?" Naruto nodded. "It happened again last night and since the Hokage hadn't received any complaints, we feared that they may have thought it was Kyuubi and attacked you."

"Well, I'm fine as you can see, sorry if I missed the debriefing, I guess I over slept."

"It's alright Naruto, I'm just glad you're safe."

"Sorry for worrying you old man. I got to go into to town to get a few things, I'll see you both later."

"Naruto, I was planning to give you those scrolls I told you about at the meeting, but now is as good a time as any." He handed the scroll to him. "When you finish with that one, come and ask me for the next. I have three for you to use, maybe you'll become a seal master."

"Could be interesting, thanks Kakashi-sensei."

"You're welcome Naruto. Remember, be at the bridge at eight tomorrow for the next mission." Both he and the Hokage disappeared in another puff of smoke.

Naruto let out a breathe of relief. 'A few seconds earlier and I would have had to explain about my wings.' He walked out of his apartment, not even bothering to lock his door, but as soon as he did, he realized that he could no longer feel the girl's power calling him. 'So we were drawn to each other so we could meet. Damn pain, I didn't even get her name, or see her face.'

As he walked, he was unaware of anything going on around him, especially Hinata Hyuga following him. He was busy thinking of what to get. 'There's no way to wear a shirt with my wings, so the normal thing is out, thank god. But I can't really run around in only pants.'

**'Wear a cloak Kit. Not only will it cover your wings, but you wouldn't have to worry about the Uchiha stealing your jutsu as you could perform the hand signs beneath it, and you could walk around without a shirt.'**

'That's not a bad idea. Now that Sasuke has the Sharingan, I have to be more careful when fighting around him. But I have to be careful when I have to bring my hands out to fight and not to move my wings too much.'

**'Use a henge to hide them when you have to.'**

'The Sharingan can see through it.'

**'Unless you're fighting him, he probably won't notice, as you will be in front with your back to him, behind him where he can't see you, or next to him.'**

'Sounds good to me.' He walks into a cloth store and buys a large amount of tan cloth, several metal clasps, and five yards of think red rope. He walked out and came face to face with Hinata. "Hey Hinata, haven't seen you in a while, how are you?"

"I… I'm fine." Naruto was looking around with a worried look on his face. "W…what is it N…Naruto?"

"Do you feel a genjutsu?" Her face became worried as well. "Never mind, it's probably Konohamaru or something. He's always trying to get the drop on me, but he's never used genjutsu before, normally he tries to sneak up on me in a square rock, or a bush." Hinata giggled and pointed, he turned around and sure enough there was a square rock with eyeholes. Naruto sighed and shook his head. "For the last time, rocks aren't perfect squares, and bushes are meant for wooded areas."

The top popped off and three kids came out. "See, isn't he a great ninja?"

They both nodded. "Who are they Konohamaru?"

The girl spoke up. "I'm Moegi and he's Udon." When they all jumped out of the box, he was starting to have a bad feeling. All three started talking at the same time. "And we're the Konohamaru Corps Boss." Naruto slapped his hand to his head, muttering 'Why me?'

Konohamaru noticed Hinata and smiled. "Who's she Boss, your girlfriend?" Hinata immediately blushed.

"She a friend from the academy, her name is Hinata Hyuga. Hinata, this brat here is old man Hokage's grandson, Konohamaru."

"I… it's nice to meet you all. I… I'm sorry, but I have to get going."

"Alright, see ya later Hinata." She walked away and Naruto turned back to the three children. "Did you want something or what?"

"Will you play ninja with us?"

"Why would I _play_ ninja when I am one?" They all had big puppy dog eyes. He sighed. "I hate it when you do that. Fine I'll play with you tomorrow after my mission okay?"

They had big smiles now. "Yea."

"I'll see you tomorrow, I have something to do yet." He went down the road a little ways and brought some long striped of leather before heading home. When he got there, there was the normal things, the door busted in, the place torn apart and things like 'Die Demon' written on the walls. He created ten clones and sent them to clean up while he took Ittou Kabau out of the scroll.

He cut off just enough cloth to wrap it around the blade and tightly strapped it in place with most of the leather strips, the clasp at the base by the handle, which was left uncovered. He took the rope and cut off a yard and a half and placed it off to the side. He had picked this rope because of its color and that it was made up of nine separate cords. He pushed some chakra into it when he was at the store and found that he could lengthen it, but it became thinner.

He attached it to the end of the handle and undid about eight inches of the other end, he tied a knot there so it wouldn't unravel further and tied another it each end of the cords. He smiled as he lifted the sword with ease. **'Interesting choice Kit, instead of a fox head, a red rope with nine tails.'**

'It's mainly to carry it around, but I'm sure I could use it in an attack too.' His clones finish picking up and he dismissed all but two. One started to unravel the last of the rope into the nine cords, while the other stood still with his wings folded to his back. Naruto cut off a strip a foot wide and wrapped the rest of the cloth around him, the bottom coming to his knees. "Can you move alright?" It nodded. He made sure the opening was in the front and cut the rest of the leather into two small strips and strapped the cloak shut near the neck, while still being able to bring the hands out without breaking them.

There was a lot of extra cloth by the neck, so he sowed it into a collar that left the face visible from the front, but block from the sides up to just under the eyes. The clone in the cloak smiled and vanished, the cloak falling to the ground, Naruto picked it up and laid it on the back of his only chair. The other clone vanished too, as he had finished his task. "Hmm, I need eighteen of something fairly small, but still big enough to do its job."

He looks around and his gaze falls on a pouch that the Hokage had given him on his fifth birthday. "Those will do nicely." He goes over and pours the contents into his hand. They were marbles, most of which were too big to fit through the ring of a kunai. He took eighteen of those and put the rest back into the pouch. "Now how to attach them."

**'I know of a way, but it will cost you.'**

'What will it cost me?'

**'What do you think, freedom.'**

'Hell no, you would kill me and everyone else, there would be no point!'

**'Maybe you aren't as stupid as I first thought. All right Kit, what do you think is a fair trade?'**

'Give me some time, and when I became proficient with seals, I'll see what I can do about modifying the seal.'

'**What would I get from this?'**

'You tell me.'

**'I already told you.'**

'And I already told you no, but I could do the next best thing. I could make it so you could see, hear, feel, and even taste what I do.'

**'Taste might be pushing it, you mainly eat that detestable ramen.'**

'I'll try to cut back on it, but I'll have to get better at cooking, cause you know as well as I do that they won't let me in anywhere else.'

**'I accept, and I'll also throw in the ability to summon foxes.'**

'I don't know how to summon.'

**'I'll teach you, but there is a benefit for me by you learning to.'**

'What are you talking about?'

**'I am the boss summon, you can summon me to help you in battle. I'll be my normal height, but I won't be able to attack anyone you don't want me to because you can dismiss me if You want to. It's a samll taste of freedom for me.'**

'That sounds good to me, you get freedom now and then, and I get a powerful demon to fight alongside me if I need help.'

**'The most powerful of the nine Bijuu.'**

'Bijuu?'

'**Yes, the nine tailed demons. Besides me, there is Shukaku the Raccoon dog, Nekomato the Cat, Isonade the Shark, Sokou the Cockatrice, Houkou the Dog, Raijuu the Weasel, Kaku the Badger, and Yamata no Orochi the Snake. I was undefeated when the Bijuu War was fought, thus I am the strongest and the King of Demons.'**

'Do you know what happened to them?'

**'All but Yamata no Orochi were loyal to me afterwards, and last I heard, that snake was trying to gain power to challenge me again.'**

'All right, as interesting as that is, I think we should stop the history lesson here and get back to work.'

'**Fine, just talking about that snake is making me angry. Come in here and get the contract.'**

Naruto was pulled into his mind, landing in the sewer. "First thing I'm doing after modifying the seal is changing this place." He made his way to the cage and found Kyuubi smiling at him.

**"There is one more thing I should warn you about this summoning. The foxes that are summoned are demons, and as such they will be hesitant to listen to you as you are a human."**

'There's a shocker. Any suggestions on how to prove myself to them?"

**"Actually, they do take kindly to food, but the older ones will be harder to please. They will want a demonsration of _your_ power. They will demand that you fight the strongest of the clan."**

"Wouldn't that be you?"

**"Yes Kit, but for obvious reasons we can't have the match here, so I'll have it moved to our realm."**

"So I get to see Hell before I die, wow don't I feel special." Kyuubi chuckled. There was a puff of smoke and a small scroll appeared in Naruto hand.

**"You can't sign it here as you need to sign in blood, when you leave, it will go with you and you must be sure not to let anyone who doesn't have permission to obtain it."**

"I understand, thank you Kyuubi." He left his mindscape and found that the scroll really did come with him. 'I wonder if I could bring things in there. Couldn't hurt to try.' He unrolled the scroll and bit his thumb hard enough to draw blood and signed his name. When he finished, the name glowed red and the kanji turned black. 'So what's the way to attach them?'

**'It's called the Monkey Fist Knot.'** Images of how to tie it flashed through Naruto's head like a movie. He quickly caught on and tied them all to the two ends of the ropes. He lifted one so the two knots were hanging next to each other and spun it above his head, he let it go and it wrapped around the table leg. **'Nicely done Kit.'**

'Thank you, you know, these will come in handy if I have to catch that damn cat again.' The Kyuubi laughed evilly at the thought. Naruto went back to his new cloak and cut the last strip of cloth into fourths and sowed them on the inside as pockets for his bolas, scrolls, and more kunai and shuriken. Naruto realized that it was dark out already and decided to go to bed. He placed his cloak back on the chair and put the summoning contract with the rest of his precious possessions, under a loose floorboard under his bed.

He laid down on his bed and couldn't get the image of the girl out of his mind, just before he fell asleep, one thought crossed his mind. 'I wish I knew her name.' When he woke up he looked at the clock to see that it was quarter to seven. "That a first, I'm actually up on time. Oh well, might as well head to the bridge now, I might be able to train a bit before they show up."

He went to the chair and put on his cloak and put his bolos into the pockets before strapping it closed. He wrapped the rope over his shoulder and tied the tails back to the rope after it wrapping it around the covered blade to keep Angelus on his back. He went back into his room and took the summoning contract out and put it in one of his pants pockets. Instead of going out the door, he jumped out the window by his table and leapt across the rooftops.

Along the way, he passed Training Ground Seven where he and his team had taken Kakashi's bell test. He stopped and looked at the three wooden post that were placed there. As he stood there, he saw Kakashi walking up to the stone that was the memorial for fallen ninja. He walked up behind Kakashi, who was sitting in front of the stone.

"I see that you found another way of concealing your sword, does that mean you don't want to learn about seals?"

"No, I do want to learn about them, but I figured I should get use to the weight of it. It won't do me any good if I can't even pick it up easily."

"I suppose not, so what did you want Naruto?"

"Nothing, I was passing by and I saw you, thought I'd say hello." He sat beside Kakashi. "So who are you here for?"

"A couple of people, my teammate and Yondaime, but mainly my teammate. You remember the line I gave you and the rest of our team."

"Like I would forget. In the world of the ninja, those who violate rules and laws are called trash. However… those who abandon their comrades are worse than trash."

"My teammate was the one who said that to me." Kakashi chuckled. "I'm surprised you memorized it though Naruto."

"I'm not 'Konoha's Number One Surprising Ninja' for nothing."

Kakashi chuckled some more. "I guess not, you even change your outfit."

"Kind of had too, my other clothes were ruined after training."

"Really, what were you doing?"

"Fighting my clones with Ittou Kabau, we all had it and I was up against at least a hundred."

"You sure love to make simple things complicated. Why did you name the sword Ittou Kabau?"

"I'm not really sure, but I think I heard the name being spoken in my head, but I know it's not the fox because I've heard its voice before. This voice sounded female and didn't have the malicious undertone that its does."

"I heard a legend about swords that spoke to their wielder. It was said that the swords were bonded to a person and would find their way to them. They were extremely powerful and would lend the wielder their power when they needed it. But this legend is over a thousand years old and there has never been any proof that they existed. I have to go get the mission assignment from the Hokage, it's almost eight and you should be heading to the bridge."

"Sure thing sensei, I'll see ya when you get there."


	3. Chapter 3

Naruto sat on the railing of the bridge as he waited for his teammates. He heard someone coming up to him and shifted his eyes to see Sasuke. "Finally ditched the orange huh?"

"Yeah, even through I wanted to, I didn't have a choice as it was ruined. I overdid it in training yesterday."

"Still trying to catch up to me?"

Naruto shrugged. "It could help. So what do you think this mission is?"

"Hopefully not that damn cat again."

"I'm kind of hoping it is." Sasuke looked at him like he was crazy. "I think I found an easier way to catch the damn thing, without being ripped apart by it."

"Really, show me."

"Couldn't hurt, but I need a target." He started to look around and his smile widened. "Well speak of the devil." He pointed and Sasuke turned to see the cat by the creek that ran under the bridge.

Sasuke smirked. 'This should be interesting.' He turned back to Naruto, whose cloak was moving slightly. Naruto brought out his arm with a henge on the inside to look like he was wearing a black T-shirt. In his hand was a red rope with large knots at each end. 'What the hell is that?' Naruto started swinging it above his head and it became little more than a blur.

Suddenly it was gone and there was the sound of something flying through the air. Sasuke quickly turned back to look at the cat and a red blur hit both of its left legs and wraps around all four, dropping the cat on its side. Naruto chuckles, while heading towards the cat. "It worked perfectly, no more running, no more scratching, just caught." He picks it up by the back of its neck. "If this is are mission, we can head home after Kakashi shows up, if not, maybe we can pick up the payment for it too."

"Naruto, what did you do?"

He turned to see Sakura standing not far from the bridge. "I caught the damn cat."

"What was that thing you used?"

"A bola, it's not normally used in battle, but it works pretty well to catch living things. I have to be sure to gather them up, because I only have a few."

There was a pop and Kakashi was on the bridge. "Yo."

"Let me guess, lost on the road of life. No, a black cat crossed your path, or you helped a old lady cross the street."

"Actually, I was in a meeting with the Hokage about you three. After we finish the mission I'll tell you."

"What are we doing this time Kakashi?"

"Trying to catch the Dynamo's wife's cat."

"Done." He looked at Naruto, who had the cat in his hand, its legs wrapped up.

"Good job. Now, I'm supposed to give you these." He handed each a piece of paper.

"What are they for?"

"I signed you up for the Chunin Exams, you don't have to take it, but those who do need to be in room 301 at the academy at nine tomorrow morning. I'll take the cat and you guys can have the rest of the day off to think about it."

Naruto handed the cat to him. "Kakashi-sensei, I want my bola back, so don't cut it off the cat, just unwrap it."

"I get it back to you later, okay?" Naruto nodded and Kakashi vanished in smoke with the cat.

"Are you guys going to take it?"

"Yes." 'I be able to test my skills against strong opponents and become strong for it.'

"I'll see you there then, there's no way I'll turn down this opportunity. What about you Sakura?"

"I'm not sure."

"You heard Kakashi-sensei, you don't have to, but if you do, I want you to know that we won't let anything happen to you." Sasuke just grunted and walked away. "Trust me, he may act like an ass, but he won't stand back and watch you get hurt." He placed a hand on her shoulder before walking in the opposite direction of Sasuke while waving.

While walking through the streets, Naruto noticed he was being followed by a square rock, _again_. "What do you want Konohamaru?"

The kids popped out of the 'rock'. "You said you would play ninja with us today."

"I don't remember that, did I really?" They all nodded and he sighed. "Fine, but only one game, I have stuff to do today. They all dash off in the same direction and Naruto smiled, pulling out another two bolas, he caught Moegi and Undo. "Two down and one to go." He helped them out of the restraints, and took off after Konohamaru.

He saw Konohamaru run around the corner and heard him run into someone. "Hey brat, watch where you're going."

"I'm sorry."

"You will be." Naruto turned the corner to find a blonde kunoichi with a large fan and a shinobi in black with purple make-up on his face and a mummy looking thing on his back.

"Kankuro, leave him alone, we have to met him soon."

"Shut up Temari, I'm just going to teach this brat a lesson first."

"Whatever, I don't want any part of it."

"Yo make-up wearing guy, put the kid down."

"Why should I?"

"Three reasons, first is he's the Hokage's grandson." Temari looked scared, Kankuro looked unimpressed. "Second is that if you don't I'll kick your ass."

Kankuro growled and reached with his free hand to the wrapped thing on his back and Naruto's hand went to his sword. "Well, what the third reason?"

"Your teammate doesn't look pleased."

"Who cares if she is?!"

"I meant him." Naruto nods at the tree in the yard next to them and Kankuro turns slowly to see a red headed boy with a gourd on his back, standing upside down on a branch.

"Kankuro, you are a disgrace to our village."

"But they were the ones…"

"Shut up or I will kill you."

"Sorry." He let go of Konohamaru, who ran behind Naruto.

Sand swirled around the boy and he appeared near his teammates. "Since your sand ninja, I guess you're here for the Chunin Exam."

"Yes. Who are you?"

"Naruto Uzumaki, and you?"

"Gaara Sabaku. I hope to see you at the exam."

"I'll be there." He released his grip on his sword as they walked away. "Strange people, huh Sasuke?" He looked back at the tree to see Sasuke sitting on the same branch.

"Should be fun."

"You do know that Kakashi lied right, we need all of us to enter."

"Sakura will, she does whatever she thinks will get my attention. That and your little speech will give her that final push."

"I guess, but you better not prove me wrong and let her get the shit kicked out of her." Sasuke dropped out of the tree and walked away. Naruto turned to Konohamaru. "Game over, I gotta get going. Say goodbye to Udon and Moegi for me."

"Okay Boss." Konohamaru ran off and Naruto started to look for a man that scared everyone he met, a supposed Taijutsu master. He wandered around the Training Grounds for an hour before he heard a loud crash. Naruto picked up his pace and found a boy with black hair in a bowl cut, two large eyebrows and wearing green spandex, crawling out of a large crater.

Naruto ran over to him. "Hey are you okay?"

The boy smiled. "Yes, thank you for you concern."

"What happened?"

"I was trying to perfect the new Taijutsu technique that Gai-sensei was teaching me. It's called the Primary Lotus."

"Sorry, I forgot to ask your name."

"It is common courtesy to give your name first."

"Really? I've never heard that before." Naruto shrugged. "I'm Naruto Uzumaki." He extended his hand, which the boy shook.

"I am Rock Lee. It's a pleasure to met you Naruto."

"The pleasure's mine Lee. I was actually looking for Gai, do you know where he is?"

"I believe he is with my teammates, come I will take you."

Naruto followed Lee through some dense trees. His ear picked up something moving through the trees. "Lee stop!" He ran in front of Lee and pulled his still covered sword. He grabbed the rope and started spinning the whole sword in front of them at a fast rate. The sound of metal hitting metal rang out through the forest as the projectiles fell to the ground. Naruto didn't let up until the only sound was his sword whirling in the air.

He slowed the spin and grabbed the handle. He looked at the weapons, there were kunai, shuriken, and senbon needles. Lee stepped forward smiling. "Ah Tenten, your aim is perfect as always."

A girl with buns in her hair and a Chinese like dress come out of the bushes in front of them. "Lee? Who's this with you?"

"This is Naruto, he's looking for Gai-sensei." Tenten looked at Naruto with a look that clearly said 'Are you insane?' before looking back at Lee.

"Lee, you know better than to come through here, Neji saw you and we figured someone was trying to spy on our training. You remember what happened last time?"

"Yes, and I was most fortunate that you weren't trying to horribly injure." She shook her head and took in Naruto's appearance, he still had his sword in hand.

"I'm impressed you can handle a sword like that, you weren't hit once."

"To tell the truth, I was really sure if I would stop them all. It was the first time I've tried something like that."

"It was pretty good." He got down on a knee and picked up the weapons. He handed them to her. "Thank you."

"No problem." He strapped Ittou Kabau on his back again with the rope. "You must really enjoy using weapons, I couldn't see very far through these trees, but your aim was incredible."

Tenten smiled. "Come on, Gai-sensei is just up ahead." She lead them out into an opening where a boy with long brown hair, white pupil less eyes, and white clothes, and a older version of Lee with a jonin vest, were waiting.

"Ah Lee, who is your youthful friend?"

"This is Naruto, he was looking for you Gai-sensei."

"Naruto, have you come to learn about the Power of Youth?"

"Actually, I think Kakashi-sensei said something about that."

"So you are on my rival's team."

"Unfortunately, he's always late, while making lame excuses about why, and reading that perverted book of his."

"I see, so why have you searched me out Naruto?"

"I was wondering if you knew where I could get some training weights."

"You are in luck, I have two sets as neither Tenten or Neji wanted them."

"Could I get them both?" All four of them looked at him in shock, though you couldn't really tell with Neji.

"You have such youthfulness, it rivals that of my own and Lee's! With both sets, you will have half of what Lee's wearing now!"

"Uh, thank you." Gai placed a box in front of him and he took out the bands of weight, one at a time and put them on, one on each leg and arm. He had a hard time moving at first, but slowly got use to the new weight.

Gai and Lee were ranting on about the Power of Youth, and Tenten was glaring holes through Naruto, since he was the one that had started them at it. "So Lee, how has your progress of the Primary Lotus gone."

"I have finished it Gai-sensei."

"Very good Lee. I now forbid it from being used."

"But Gai-sensei…"

"Lee!" It stopped Lee from saying another word. "The only time you are allowed to use it is if someone precious to you is in danger."

"I understand Gai-sensei."

"Good."

Naruto stood near them, by the edge of the clearing. "Someone precious."

Gai turned to him and saw the saddened expression. "Is something wrong Naruto?"

"In our mission to the Land of Waves, I met a boy named Haku who said that when you fight to protect someone precious to you, you will become as strong as you need to be. The next day, I found out that he was one of our enemies and he died to protect his partner, Zabuza, who didn't even seem to care about Haku. Zabuza killed his employer from insulting Haku. Since that battle, I have trying to figure out what makes a person precious. I carry Zabuza's sword, though it's not the same anymore, it changed when I cut my hand on the blade and made a promise to them."

Lee and Gai were in tears, Neji looked bored and Tenten was shocked. "Such a sad story of the loss of youthfulness."

"Naruto, could I see the blade?"

"Sure." He pulled his sword again and flicked the clasp. The leather strip fell to the ground and the cloth went with it.

She smiled. "It's an impressive blade Naruto, what its name?"

"Ittou Kabau. Please don't ask me why, it's complicated." She nodded. He rewraps the blade and puts it on his back again.

"Naruto, I will tell you what I believe makes a precious person if you like." Naruto looked at Gai with a smile and nods. "A precious person is someone who you would do anything to protect them, even give your own life."

"Thanks Gai, for everything."

"Your welcome, even if you are my rival's student, I will do everything in my power to fan the Flames of Youth."

"GAI-SENSEI."

"LEE."

"GAI-SENSEI."

"LEE." They hug and the back round changes to a cliff overlooking the sea with waves crashing against the side. Naruto tries to dispel it thinking it's a genjutsu.

"Don't waste your time, it won't work, we've tried."

"Are you guys entering the Chunin Exam?"

"Yeah, Gai-sensei had us skip a year to prepare. Kakashi probably signed you guys up because of the Uchiha right?"

"Most likely, but I don't care. I'll get my chance to show the bastard up this time."

"Good luck."

"You guys too, I guess I'll see you tomorrow then, provided my third teammate shows."

"I'm pretty sure that Lee would be devastated if he didn't get a chance to fight you."

"Well if she doesn't show, I'll see if he wants to spar some other time."

"I wouldn't say that to loud, or he'll challenge you."

"Good point. See ya later you guys." He waved to them and walked off down a dirt path. He trained at Training Ground Seven until dark and headed home. He flopped down on his bed when he got there, after removing his sword and cloak. 'Kyuubi, does time pass differently in Hell like when I visit you in there?'

**'I'm not sure Kit, time doesn't really apply to me, I'm immortal after all.'**

'Well, I really hope so, or I'm going to have to set aside a week or so for my test.'

**'You still might have to, I won't go down easily.'**

'Trust me, I know, but neither will I. Besides, you never said I had to win, just to show them my power.'

**'Seems I misjudged you Kit, you shouldn't hide who you really are.'**

'Have you sensed anything from the girl?'

**'No I haven't Kit. She must be used to surpressing her chakra.'**

'Thanks Kyuubi, good night.'

'**Good night Kit.'** Naruto fell asleep soon after.

--

When Naruto woke up the next morning, he went through his normal routine and started to get ready, but he couldn't find his weights. He tore apart his bedroom trying to find, he looked at his clock and saw that it was just after eight. 'Damn it, where are they?'

**'I believe you're still wearing them Kit.'**

Naruto looked down and saw it was true. 'How can I be moving so easily, I've only been wearing them for half a day.'

**'You tear your muscles and when those tears heal, you become stronger. Since I increase your healing rate, the tears heal faster and you keep ripping your muscles so you get stronger faster.'**

'So I get stronger faster with less work? Then what's the point of working for anything? It's too much like Sasuke for comfort.'

**'I agree Kit, but it's a perk of being my vessel. Work as hard as you want and you'll get twice the normal results. You should get ready Kit, you don't have much time before the exam.'**

He looked at the clock again and it was almost eight thirty. "Shit!" He put on his cloak and attached his sword as he ran out the door.


	4. Chapter 4

Naruto arrives at the academy panting and Sasuke's already there. "You're early? What's next, Kakashi not reading his book?"

"What are you talking about, it's almost nine."

"I don't know where you got that idea, but it's five after eight." He showed Naruto his watch and that what it said.

"Huh, I guess my clock is an hour fast. So why are you here so early?"

"I've been up for a few hours, I couldn't sleep."

"So you're actually excited about this then."

"You could put it that way, I want to test my abilities on strong opponents like that Gaara from yesterday."

"There are some guys you should watch out for from here too, like me. I just might surprise you. You think she'll show?" Sasuke shrugged. "I hope so, there's two other people other than you that I want to fight."

"Really, who?"

"That Gaara, and a guy I might yesterday, Rock Lee."

"He any good?"

"Not really sure, he wears weights and when I found him yesterday, he was crawling out of a huge crater he made." Sasuke just gave a 'huh' and watched as other genin from several villages entered the building. Naruto was sitting against the building when he saw Sasuke smirk. Naruto looked and saw Sakura running towards them. "I was starting to wonder if you were going to come."

"I can't leave the two of you alone, you'd end up trying to kill each other."

"Who's trying? The dope wouldn't stand a chance."

"So let's go in, we have to be at room 301 by nine." They went in and on the second floor, they saw a mob of people trying to get into a room labeled 301.

Sasuke walked over to where two genin blocked the path. "Take off the genjutsu and get out of the way."

One of them smiled. "So you noticed, but you'll have to get passed us to continue on." He genin tried to kick but was stopped by a green blur.

"That's enough."

"Hey Lee, nice block."

Lee looked at the group he jumped in front of. "Ah Naruto, it's good to see you." Tenten and Neji come over, Tenten shaking her head.

Naruto pointed at Lee. "Guys, this is Rock Lee, his teammates Tenten, whose family name I never asked, and Neji Hyuga, the Rookie of the Year from last year.' He moved his finger as he talked. He then pointed at Sasuke. "This is the stuck up bastard Sasuke Uchiha. Oww." Sakura hit him on the back of the head. "And the abusive Sakura Haruno." His comment earned him another blow to thw head.

Lee's eyes turned to hearts when he looked at her. "What a beautiful blossom, I will protect you with my life. Will you be my girlfriend, my lovely Sakura?" Naruto was trying to not laugh as Sakura inched away saying she loved Sasuke. "Sasuke, I challenge you."

"Alright."

Tenten looked worried. "Lee, I don't think you should be doing this, we could get in trouble."

"Let him, if nothing else, we get to learn about a possible opponent." Lee rushed toward Sasuke at incredible speeds, so much so that Sasuke was forced to turn on the Sharingan just to get a glimpse. Lee suddenly appeared on his hands and one leg, kicking Sasuke in the chin with the other and sending him into the air. Lee appeared again behind Sasuke, but before he could do anything, Gai had a hold of Sasuke and Lee was decked out on the floor.

"Lee, I told you not to use that technique!"

"I'm sorry Gai-sensei, I was caught up in trying to prove myself."

"There is a time and a place for such things." He set Sasuke down as Naruto walked over to him. "Ah Naruto, how does this youthful day find you?"

"Good Gai, I have a question for you though, the weights you gave me, are they metal plate weights or something else?"

"So you already need to add more, you do indeed rival Lee and myself. The weights are made of a special material that when you try to put chakra into them, they gain weight. They don't actually absorb the chakra though so you could put a very large amount in, but it is unwise as the pressure could crush you. I should also warn you that you can only increase the weight, you'll have to take them off to feel the results of your training."

"Thanks Gai."

"Not a problem Naruto, may your Flames of Youth burn brightly in the exam." Gai gave him his 'Good Guy' pose and everyone sweat dropped except Lee who was doing one as well.

Everyone started up the stairs to the third floor, Naruto was supporting Sasuke. "You just had to open your mouth didn't you? You said you want to fight the strongest, but you saved quite a few of the weaker teams back there."

Sasuke just groaned as Kakashi came into view. "What happened to him?"

"He and Lee had a short match before Gai stopped them."

He just nodded. "Well good luck on the exam."

Sakura was curious. "Why are you here sensei?"

"Simple, if you didn't all show up, I was supposed to turn the others away. Good luck." He handed Naruto his bola and vanished in a puff of smoke. Naruto kicked in the door as his hands were full and could feel the killing intent come from the room. He just shrugged it off and propped Sasuke against the wall.

"Sasuke!" A blonde girl grabbed on to him.

"Get off of him Ino-pig!"

"Troublesome girls." Naruto turned his hand to find Shikamaru and Choji, who was munching on a bag of chips.

"Looks like all of the rookies are here." Kiba and his team came walking up to them, Hinata poking her fingers together.

Naruto was glancing around. 'There it is again, who's using the genjutsu? It's really strong for a genin." A guy with sliver hair and glasses came up to them, he was wearing a leaf headband.

"Since I can see it's your first time, I have some advice for you, shut the hell up."

"Who the hell are you?"

"My names Kabuto. I've taken this exam seven times already, two every year."

"You must really suck."

"Maybe, but I gather information on the other applicants, I'll share it with you." He pulled out a deck of card.

"What's with the cards?"

"I store my information on them, so who would you like to know about?"

"Gaara from Suna and Rock Lee from Konoha."

"You know their names, that makes it easier. Let's see, ah here we are. Gaara Sabaku, 0 D, 0 C, 15 B and 7 A, 1 S missions, not much else is known about him except that it's rumored that he's returned from every mission without a scratch." Naruto glanced over at the red headed boy, who just looked back. "Rock Lee, a year older than you, 37 D, 4 C, 1 B, 0 A, 0 S missions, has high marks in taijutsu, but pathetic marks in ninjutsu and genjutsu."

"He still would have beat Sasuke if Gai hadn't stepped in, that move he was about to use left a huge crater last time he used it."

"You guys should be careful, there are ninja from Suna, Ame, Tonbo, Kusa, Kiri, and even Oto sent some."

"What do you mean 'even Oto'?"

"They're a new village, still kind of small, normally they would wait a few years and send more than just one team." A man almost completely wrapped in bandages took a swing at Kabuto, he dodged, but fell to the ground, blood running out of his ears.

There was a loud popping and several people were at the front of the room. The one standing in front of the others was wearing a trench coat and had scars on his face. "There will be no fighting unless you are told to do so!"

The mummy man bowed. "My apologies, but I do not take lightly the insulting of my village."

"I don't give a fuck why, don't do it again or you be thrown out! Now listen up, the ones behind me will tell you where to sit!" When they were all sitting, the ones who had stood behind the scarred man sat around the room. "I'm Ibiki Morino, the first part of this exam is a written test. There are ten questions, but only nine on the sheet in front of you. Forty-five minutes after you start, the tenth question will be given."

"The rules are simple, you start off with ten points, one point is deducted for every wrong answer, two if you're caught cheating, if you get caught five times you and your team fail and are kicked out immediately. The proctors around the room will be watching to see if you cheat. You're forty-five minutes start now!"

Naruto was a bit nervous, as he was never any good at written tests. He flipped the paper over and read the questions slowly. **'Kit, there's no way that a normal genin would know the answers to these.'**

'Then what are we supposed to do, if we cheat, we could get kicked out. Wait he said if we were caught, he wants us to cheat.'

'**Very good Kit, but you don't need to, I know the answers, just write down exactly what I say.' **He picked up his pencil and started scribbling down what Kyuubi told him. Hinata was sitting next to him and saw how he blew through the questions only taking a few seconds to read them. **'This girl is smart, cheating off of you is a good idea, but because of your reputation, no one else will.' **Naruto was just finishing the last question when Kyuubi said it, but was smart enough not to write that too.

'Can you sense where the genjutsu is coming from?'

**'Not the exact source, but I know it's very close, within two rows from you.'** Naruto just leaned backing his chair, leaving his paper open for looks. Ibiki saw this and smiled, thinking that he had given up. Sasuke used his Sharingan, Neji used his Byakugan, Sakura was just a bookworm, Ino used her family jutsu to take over Sakura's body and give the information to Shikamaru and Choji, Shino used his bugs, Kiba use Akamaru, Tenten and Lee used small mirrors hanging from the ceiling, Gaara used his third eye jutsu to turn his sand into an eye that he could see out of, and Kankuro used Karasu to gather the answers and pass them to Temari.

Several teams were kicked out and after forty-five minutes, Ibiki stood up and addressed them. "It's time for the tenth question, but before I tell you, you have to decide if you want to take it or not."

"Why wouldn't we?"

"If you take it and get it wrong, your team fails and none of you will ever be able to become chunin. If you don't take it, your team fails, but you can take the next one."

"There are lots of people who have taken the exam before."

"I wasn't in charge before, too bad for you. If you decide not to take it, raise your hand and one of the proctors will take down your name and those of your teammates." People all around the room were raising their hands. Ibiki looked at the boy he thought had give up, but he just sat there with a smile looking around too. A pink haired girl was about to raise her hand after a look towards the blonde boy, but he saw it and raised his first.

Before the proctor's pen reached the clipboard, he slammed his hand on the desk. "I won't run so just give us the question." The others, including some of those from foreign villages took courage from his words and no one else raised their hands.

"Those who have decide to take the tenth question, you all pass."

"What the hell was the point of the test then?"

"The first nine were to test your information gathering skills, there were chunin with all the answers among you for that purpose. The tenth was to see if you were willing to face even a lose-lose situation to finish a mission." He pulled off his bandana revealing more scars. "In the field, misinformation can be worse then no information at all." He replaced the bandana. "The second exam will be…" A black object impacted the wall and a banner opened across the room.

It said 'The Second Proctor, Anko Mitarashi.' There was a puff of smoke and a woman in a trench coat, purple mini skirt, fishnet, and boots, with brown pupil less eyes and violet hair. "You're early again Anko."

She didn't pay attention as she counted the remaining students. "Twenty-six? You must be getting soft if you let twenty-six teams pass."

"They're really good this year."

"I cut that number in half. Alright you little shits, follow me to the location of the second part of the exam!" She jumped out of the hole created by her sign and the more experienced genin followed her while the other went through the door. Ibiki collected the tests and looked at Naruto's when he got to it. He was shocked that every question was answered perfectly. 'How could he have answered them all so fast? What an interesting kid.'

--

The genin stood outside a large, enclosed, forest. "Welcome to Training Area 44, also known as the Forest of Death."

"Doesn't look that bad."

"Almost every creature and plant in there are enormous, poisonous, or deadly in another way, sometimes even all three." Most of the genin paled at this, but Naruto looked bored. Something flew by him and grazed his cheek. In an instant, Anko was holding him from behind and licked the cut. "You don't taste too bad kid, but I can tell you're afraid."

"Who wouldn't be, I have a crazed kunoichi on me, and am surrounded by people who would just as soon kill me as talk to me." Anko smirked at his reply, but drew a kunai as a long tongue came into view.

"I believe this is yours." The tongue was wrapped around another kunai.

"Thank you." Anko took the kunai and the tongue went back into a Kusa ninja's mouth, who smiled and walked away. "Now listen up, the rules for this portion of the exam is that you have five days to reach the tower in the center while trying to survive each other and other obstacles. Each team will be given either a Heaven or an Earth scroll and need both when they reach the tower. You cannot look in the scrolls, and your team must all reach the tower alive. Now sign these forms and when you have, hand them to one of the jonin by the fence and get your teams scroll."

"What are the forms for?"

"Since killing is allowed, you have to sign these forms to continue so in the event you do die in there, Konoha is not held responsible as you knew what you were getting into. If one member of the team doesn't sign it, the others can't continue either." Everyone signed and they got their scrolls, Naruto's team got the Heaven Scroll. They waited at they assigned gate until it opened and they shot off into the forest.

After half an hour of running, they stopped because Naruto had to go to the bathroom. A Kiri ninja snuck up on him, but a clone bashed him with Angelus from behind, knocking him out. "Can't I even get some privacy?" He finished and walked to his clone. "Anything on him?"

"No scroll, but he had a few weapons and explosive tags." The clone handed the spoils to him and disappeared. He stuffed them into his pockets and went back to his team. They were discussing something but when they saw him, they told him to stop.

"Prove that you're who you say you are."

"How?"

"What were the names of the family we protected in Wave?"

"Tazuna, Tsunami, and Inari, from Gato, Zabuza, and Haku. Happy?"

"Sorry, but we're up against ninja and they could disguise themselves. We've decided to use a password to identify each other."

"Why don't we use the line Kakashi-sensei told us after the bell test? It would only work once, but we shouldn't really try to separate." They nodded and were off again. As they ran, a tremendous wind ripped through the area and tore trees from the ground. Sasuke used his chakra to stick to the ground and was grabbed by Sakura, but Naruto was blown away. It was with a sickening crack that a large tree stopped him.

He fell to the branch below and laid there a few moments before slowly standing back up. "What the hell was that?" There was a crushing sound behind him and he turned just in time to see a giant snake shallow him.

--

The Kusa ninja from earlier appeared in front of Sasuke and Sakura, putting out a lot of killing intent, causing them to freeze in place. "I'm disappointed Sasuke, I came to see what the youngest Uchiha was capable of and you cower." While Sasuke and Sakura were under the pressure of his killing intent, they saw themselves being killed over and over by him. Sasuke heard Sakura scream and was brought back to reality, but was still shaken. Sasuke pulled out a kunai and stabbed himself in the leg and used the pain to snap himself out of it.

His Sharingan blazed to life and he rushed the ninja, he was thrown into the air. He flipped in mid-air and threw several shuriken, which the Kusa ninja dodged. The ninja ran up the tree and started to attack Sasuke in the air. Sasuke managed to surprise his enemy and wrap his legs around the man's chest, locking his arm in place and his arms around the man's legs.

The man's head was smashed into a branch about twenty feet below them, Sasuke jump up above him and started making hand signs. "Ryuka no Jutsu!" A dragon made of flames shot from Sasuke's mouth towards the man, destroying the branch. Sasuke nearly collapsed from exhaustion when he heard laughing.

"Nicely done Sasuke, had I not been prepared, you may have killed me." Sasuke looked at the man, the skin on his face was ripped, revealing pale skin underneath it and a golden eye with a slit pupil with purple lines around the eye. "Come Sasuke, entertain me."

--

Naruto was pissed, no matter what he tried, he couldn't seem to get out. His sword had stuck into the beast, but he couldn't cut himself out. A wide smile appeared on his face and he made a cross using his index and middle fingers. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" The clones continued to appear until the snake's body exploded and it rained Narutos. He dispelled them and started back toward where his team last was.

When he found them, he saw Sasuke throw their scroll to the enemy. He rushed forward and grabbed it out of the air. "What the hell are you doing Sasuke?"

"Naruto, he too powerful, he'll kill us."

"And what do you think will happen if we give him the scroll, that he'll let us walk away?"

"So it's you again." The Kusa ninja started pumping out more killing intent, cause Sasuke to shake, but Naruto just glared at the man. "Do you not fear death?"

"Why should I? Death will come to everyone, whether from old age or war."

The man laughed. "Then let's see what you can do." There was a puff of smoke and a large snake appeared.

'Another snake? He must have sent the last one too, that bastard!' Naruto pulled out his sword and released the cloth. Taking the handle in one hand the rope in the other. "I killed you last snake, and this one will meet the same fate." He threw the rope over his right arm and it wrapped around it. He took the sword in both hand and charged the snake, blocking its bites with his blade.

He cut the beast throat and it disappeared like a clone, only to have another appear and charge the still shaking Sasuke. 'Kyuubi, I'm gonna need your help with this.'

**'I can't give you much Kit, your body can't handle much of my power yet.'**

'Anything will be helpful.' He felt the surge of raw power and sped off to where Sasuke was. The instant the snake bit down, Naruto's sword was stabbed into the front of its snout. "You're not hurt are you, scaredy cat?" Sasuke stopped shaking and looked at Naruto. The ninja's tongue wrapped around Naruto's neck, but was unable to move him.

'Is he using chakra to stay in place?' He yelled in pain as his tongue was cut.

"Keep your tongue off me you sick bastard, I don't go for guys." The man looked down at Naruto and saw the red eyes with cat-like pupils. A smile appeared on his face.

'So the Kyuubi brat still lives, this changes everything.' The man reaches up and pulls out the torn skin, showing that it was something like a mask. "I'm Orochimaru the Snake Sannin."

"I know who you are, only two people in history have used snakes and one is the proctor of this part of the exam." Naruto was on top of the snake in seconds. "Unfortunately for you, we don't like snakes." Naruto brought his sword down in an angled slice and cut him in half, but the body turned to dirt. "A mud clone?" He looked around to find the snake Sannin, but by the time he found him, it was too late.

Orochimaru's fingertips were engulfed in purple flames and he slammed them into Naruto's stomach, over top Kyuubi's seal. "Gogyo Fuin. What a pity, if it weren't for your tenant, I would give you a curse seal as well. You may have a use later, but for now I need you out of the way." Pain coursed through Naruto's body and he fell unconscious. Orochimaru tried to throw him, but still couldn't move him. "You disappoint me Sasuke, but I'm still going to leave you a parting gift."

His neck stretched out and he bit into the back of Sasuke's neck. Near the bite, a circle of three tomoes appeared as Sasuke also fell unconscious. "You'll seek me out, and when you do, I'll give you the power you seek." After he left, the effects of the killing intent wore off and Sakura was able to move again.


	5. Chapter 5

Naruto woke up with a splitting headache, something hard was sticking into his back, but the rest of his body was on something fairly soft. He opened his eyes and quickly moved his hand to block the sunlight. 'What the hell was that Kyuubi?' There was no reply. "Kyuubi? Kyuubi, can you hear me?' Again there was no response. He was about to enter his mindscape when Sakura came into view, panting and muddied. "What happened to you?"

"I moved Sasuke to a place not so open and I came back to get you. Seeing as how you're awake, I won't have to move you."

"Thanks, what happened after I was knocked out?"

"That man did something to Sasuke. It looked like he bit Sasuke, and now there this weird mark on Sasuke's shoulder, he left after that."

"When we get out of here, we have to get someone to take a look at it, who knows what it is. By the way, did you happen to hear what he used on me?"

"No, but I remember seeing purple flames on the tips of his fingers."

"So do I. We need to get back to Sasuke, lead the way." She nodded and started back the way she came. By the time they reached the tree where Sasuke was hidden, the sun was setting. "Sakura, get some rest, you earned it. I'll keep watch and set up some defenses tonight. With any luck, he'll be up by tomorrow, if not we'll have to stay here until he wakes up."

"Why can't we carry him?"

"We could, but if we did, we would be easy targets. I normally would make some shadow clones to help, but whatever that guy hit me with is messing with my chakra control and I don't have the time to try and get it back to normal right now. I can probably make half the amount I would normally with the same amount of chakra. We have four days left to find the earth scroll and get to the tower, even with my clones, we wouldn't be able to do both while carrying Sasuke."

"But if we don't move, we won't be able to anyway. If we wait, we'll have to do both in three days or less."

"I going to try and find the other scroll tomorrow afternoon, after I get some sleep. My chakra control may be on the fritz, but my physical strength is fine. Sakura, could you do something for me?"

"What?"

He put up a quick henge and pulled his arms from under his cloak. "Since my control sucks, I need you to push some chakra into both of these and the one on my legs."

"Aren't these weights?"

"Yeah, from what I was told, pushing chakra into them makes them weigh more, but they don't absorb the chakra so you'll still have it. The reason I'm asking is because once they increase in weight, you can't lower it so if I were to do it, chances are that I would put way too much in and have to more or less crawl to the tower. So, will you do it?"

"I don't see why not, lay down and keep your arms out." He did as he was told and she started, doubling the weight on each limb. "That good?"

"Yeah, thanks Sakura. Get some rest, you'll need it tomorrow whether we move or not." He slowly got up and moved out from under the tree's roots. He started laying traps around the clearing, most were well hidden, but one he made it so obvious it was painful for him, its saving grace was that it was only a trigger for the most painful and possibly cruelest trap he made. 'I have to tell Sakura to scare off any animals that try to walk over it, wouldn't want it to go off prematurely.' A sadistic gleam appeared in his eye.

Naruto walked back under the roots, moving slowly still. A smile appeared on his face when he saw Sakura laying next to Sasuke, a smile on her face and his arm around her, put there by her obviously as her hand was around his wrist. He walked over and moved her hand on to Sasuke's chest, but left Sasuke's arm where she put it. Smiling evilly, he rummaged through his pockets. He was whispering to himself. "I knew it was a good idea to bring it, but where did I put it. Ah, there it is." He pulled his arms out again and had a camera in his hands.

Chuckling, he raised the camera and took a picture of the two. "How embarrassed they'll be when everyone sees this. The fangirls are going to be pissed, Kakashi is going to love this, and Sakura will probably had it blown up and hanging in her room." He put the camera back and sat down. He made a cross using his index and middle fingers. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu." Five clones popped into existence. "Spread out and keep watch. I have to check something." The clones nodded and ran off.

He closed his eyes and entered his mindscape, moving quickly through the sewer, he found Kyuubi's cell. The sight shocked him, instead of the normal bars, the spot where Naruto knew Kyuubi was sealed, there was a brick wall jutting out of the wall. "The bastard fucked up my chakra control _and_ cut me off from Kyuubi! I'm going to rip the fucker's throat out!" He walked up to the wall and placed a hand on it, it glowed blue for a second. "Kyuubi, if you can hear me, I will find a way to get rid of this damn thing!"

The wall glowed red and a weak voice came from behind it. **"He called it Gogyo Fuin Kit, it's another seal. Your control is fucked up because he placed an odd numbered one on top of an even. He must have known about me to hit the seal so accurately."**

"He is one of the Sannin, he became a missing-nin shortly after Yondaime took over, probably left a someone who reported to him. I would think it was Anko, but from what I heard if you even mention his name around her she flips out and tries to kill you. On a happier note, my teammates are sleeping together, nothing romantic, but in each other's arms only slightly helped. I just moved Sakura's arm to his chest, other than that it was her."

He heard a weak laugh. **"I hope you remembered the camera."**

"Damn right I did, I plan to make copies to hand out and when I alter the seal, it's going on the wall, just so you have something laugh at besides me."

**"Thanks for the thought, but if you do, make sure you can take it down, sooner or later, it won't be as funny."**

"Sorry to cut this short Kyuubi, but I'm supposed to be on guard duty. I promise though, I will find a way to get rid of this wall."

**"I know you will."** With that, Naruto returned to the conscious world, his clones were still there, moving around the clearing, keeping watch while avoiding the traps. He made a hand sign and they disappeared with another pop.

--

Naruto woke Sakura shortly after sunrise and told her of the traps he placed. Above all else, he impressed how important the one in front of the tree was to not be set off by anything but an enemy. He didn't tell her what it did, but she said she understood and didn't ask. She woke him up at ten, like he asked her to and told him to be careful. Around noon, he came across a clearing that was almost completely covered in blood. The smell more than the sight caused Naruto to puke.

Pinching his nose, he dropped into the clearing and looked for any clues as to what happened. Near the edge of the blood, he found a bare spot, like something had intercepted it, something that was no longer there. In that spot, he found that the ground was lightly covered in grains of sand. "Gaara and his team were the only Suna ninja to pass the first test. Question is did they kill another team or were they the ones killed. I guess I'll find out later." He jumped into the trees and started off again.

Not even ten minutes later, he stopped by a steam to drink. As soon as he landed something rustled behind him, quickly pulling out a kunai he turned towards the noise. Out of the forest came Kiba with a shaking Akamaru in his coat. He spotted Naruto and went into a defense position. "What are you doing here, and where's your team?"

"We split up to find the other scroll, and I was trying to get a drink when you came up behind me." He put the kunai away and went over to the stream. He get down on one knee and drank the water from his cupped hands. "Kiba, a bit of advice, don't head directly towards the tower, there's a clearing where a slaughter occurred. The Suna team was involved."

"I know, my team saw the whole thing. That red head is insane, after he killed those Ame ninja, it looked like he was going to turn on his own team. He didn't even know what scroll the Ame team had, he just wanted to kill them. They did have the scroll he needed, his team passed yesterday. Akamaru hasn't stopped shaking from the power he sensed from this guy. You should stay clear of him."

"I keep that in mind. Try not to get killed Kiba." Naruto waved and jumped back into the trees and sped off down stream. He soon became surrounded by the Kiri ninja that had attacked him the day before and his team. "Brought friends this time huh, well at least I know one of you has the scroll, you wouldn't just leave it somewhere someone could find it." He took Ittou Kabau off his back and flicked the clasp, causing the straps and cloth to fall to the ground.

The three Mist ninja used the water form the stream to make Mizu Bunshin to completely surround Naruto, said blonde just smirked. Grabbing the end of the rope, Naruto started spinning, the sword's reach still couldn't touch the enemies, who were laughing. "You won't be able to keep that up for long and it was a waste, you can't even touch us. Just as he finished speaking, the sound of water splashing to the ground was heard as the clones across from him were destroyed. 'He must have moved, he still can't hit them all.'

He was proven wrong as one of the real ninja was hit, sending him into a tree and knocking him out. The other two jumped back as the sword passed through the remaining clones. Slowly the spinning stopped, leaving a dizzy Naruto stand with his sword stabbed into the ground to balance himself. The two Mist ninja used this opening and charged forward, a kunai in each hand. Naruto made a quick seal and five Kage Bunshin appeared between him and them. The clones didn't last long, but long enough for Naruto to recover. Gripping the large sword in both hands, Naruto charged towards the one who attacked him. He swung over his head, but was blocked by the two kunai. The second ninja came up from the side and attempted the stab Naruto, but was hit in the gut by Naruto's knee.

The blocking ninja used this to his advantage and push Naruto's blow towards his teammate, causing Naruto to become unbalanced and nearly fall on to the waiting kunai. Luckily for him, he had kneed the ninja hard enough that the kunai fell from his hands, so instead he just fell on to the ninja, both falling to the ground. Naruto rolled to the side, as the last Mist ninja standing drove a kunai down towards him. Naruto brought up his sword and used the broad side to stop the kunai. Naruto took a quick look around and saw two major things, one the ninja he had landed on was getting up, and the other was where the attacking ninja was standing. He smirked and swiftly lifted his leg, kicking the offending ninja in the groin.

Needless to say, the man fell to the ground hold the area in the fetal position, the kunai lying forgotten on the ground. Naruto quickly got to his feet and hit the man on the head with the broad side of his sword, knocking him out. The last conscious member of their team looked at his teammate with pity. He noticed that Naruto was slowly approaching him, sword in hand. The Mist ninja dropped to his knees. "I surrender, take our scroll. I don't want to end up like that poor bastard."

Naruto stopped in front of him and held out his hand, the Mist ninja placed the scroll in his hand and went to help his teammates. Naruto looked at the scroll and sighed. 'Another Heaven scroll, oh well, I should probably head back now.' He turned to go when he felt the earth tremble. He smiled and sped off.

--

Sakura kept watch from under the roots of the trees for hours and checked on Sasuke when she got the chance. Right now wasn't one of those times, she heard something moving in the forest. When a squirrel ran out, she was relieved until it headed for the only trap Naruto wouldn't tell her about. She threw a kunai and scared the squirrel back into the forest, unaware of the six people watching.

Three were battered and burnt, watching from behind a fallen tree. "This is so troublesome, why are we going after Sakura's team? Sasuke and Naruto can easily beat us."

"Shikamaru's right Ino, we'd have better luck fighting Kiba's group."

"I thought you were supposed to be the smart one you lazy bastard. Look, Sasuke's out and Naruto isn't even here, the three of us can take down Forehead Girl and we already saw that she has the scroll and it's the one we need. It's an easy win for us." As they were arguing, the three Sound ninja stepped into the clearing.

"What did I tell you Kin, those other traps couldn't have possibly been made by this group, those were complex and well hidden this…" He pointed at the ground. "This is pathetic."

The man wrapped up like a mummy stepped forward. "Girl, we came for Sasuke, wake him up and we might let you live."

"You're not getting Sasuke!" The mummy man laughed and stepped forward.

"Your trap is easily seen, this soil is upturned and there is no grass growing on it. He stuck his hand into the soil and was poked by something sharp. His visible eye widened, and as he pulled his arm out, there was a muffled explosion and the earth shook from the explosion and the hundreds of kunai that shot from the ground, going in every direction except towards Sakura and Sasuke. The three Sound ninja were turned into nothing less than pincushions, while Ino team was only saved because they ducked behind the fallen tree.

Sakura was in shock as the three ninja fell to the ground. 'What the hell is wrong with Naruto?!'

Behind the fallen tree Shikamaru was as closed to pissed as he could get. "You still think it's a good idea to fight?"

"Shut it Shikamaru. Let's go, there's can't possibly be anymore traps, or that would have set them off."

"If you're so sure, you won't mind going first."

"Why me, you're a man aren't you?"

"Yeah, but I'm not suicidal. Better to live as a coward than die as a fool."

Naruto moved through the trees over them and stopped just above them. "Poor bastards, shouldn't judge everything but how they look." He looked down to see them staring up. "Did you get here before or after the trap went off?" He studied them closely. "By your expression, I'd say before. Come on, I'll tell you if there are any traps, I'm sure Ino wants to go see Sasuke." They followed Naruto to the tree roots, once there he step aside and they rushed in, but he wasn't able to side step the punch Sakura sent towards him. He went crashing to the ground.

"What the hell is wrong with you? That trap was barbaric at best!"

"It worked didn't it."

"I didn't mean it was crude, I meant it was inhuman, it was designed to kill everything around."

"Not everything, none came this way did they? Besides, I took in to account clones, and I don't think you'd be complaining if it were that snake freak who attacked us yesterday." He stood up and turned his back on them. "I'm going to see what scroll they have." He searched the bodies and found the Earth scroll in a pouch on the mummy man that was on the back of his pants, so it wasn't pierced but any kunai. He came back and looked at Ino's team. "What scroll do you need?"

"A Heaven."

"So that's why you were here, well luckily for you, they had a Earth scroll, and I acquired a second Heaven scroll." He pulled out the Heaven scroll he had and tossed it to them. "As an apology for nearly killing you along with them. Even if you were planning on attacking, we're still comrades as ninja of Konoha."

"Well said Naruto, Gai-sensei would be proud of your youthfulness."

Naruto turned with a smile. "Hey Lee, what brings you here?"

"The explosion that shook the forest, my team and I felt it and I volunteered to check it out."

"It was a trap that I set up to protect my teammates while I was away."

"Then I should have gotten here sooner, to protect the lovely Sakura." Ino was snickering while Sakura was shaking.

"Well Lee, you still might be able to." He looked at Sasuke, and everyone else looked too. Black marks were slowly spreading down his arm and across his face. "Lee, I'm might need your help when he wakes up."

"I thought we wanted him to wake up?"

"Sakura, I'm almost certain that whatever that snake freak did to him is causing this. Until we get it looked at, I think it would be better to keep him unconscious, or at least till it subsides. Shikamaru, if I can keep him still, do you think you can hold him with your shadow long enough for Lee or I to knock him out?"

"I won't be able to hold him for more than a few minutes, but I think it that should be long enough."

"I want you five to go to the edge of the clearing, I don't know how he'll react." They nodded and left. Purple visible chakra erupted from Sasuke and the marks started to glow red. His eyes shot open and he stood.

'This power is incredible, with this power I can kill my brother.' He looked straight at Naruto. "Fight me."

"I was hoping you would ask, but there's not much room, let's take this outside." He walked out into the clearing with little concern about having an unpredictable Sasuke following him. Sasuke stopped just outside the roots and Naruto went over to the others, setting down his sword, he whispered to Shikamaru. "How close does he have to be?"

"With all these shadows, about ten feet from where he is now."

"Got it, go as soon as he's in range." Naruto started back towards Sasuke and stopped at the edge of what used to be his trap. "Ready when you are." Without a moment hesitation, they both started making hand signs, mirroring the other. "Katon: Hosenka no Jutsu!" Five balls of fire shot from each and collided, but the shuriken that Sasuke had hidden in his kept going. Naruto swiftly drew a kunai and deflect them away from himself without sending them towards the five other Leaf ninja.

While Naruto was busy with the shuriken, Sasuke disappeared only to reappear behind Naruto as he knocked away the last shuriken. "Not bad Dope, but you still have no chance to beat me now that I have this power."

Naruto looked over his shoulder and he smiled. "Is that right? Then go ahead and try."

Sasuke was smirking. "Fine." He tried to raise his arm, but it wouldn't move. "Why can't I move?"

Naruto walked around Sasuke. "Sorry Sasuke, that thing is acting up and until it's stopped or at least check out, I can't risk you flipping out and attacking us." He hit Sasuke in the back of the neck with a chop and Sasuke fell forward as Shikamaru withdrew his shadow bind. "Thanks Shikamaru, sorry you didn't get to help Lee."

"It's alright Naruto, perhaps when this is over we can have a match."

"Sounds good, I look forward to it. You should probably get back to your team before they get worried."

"Actually, I told them to continue to the tower. I can travel with you to help until we meet up with them." Sakura looked horrified, but Naruto smiled.

"I appreciate it Lee, we'd be at a big disadvantage have to both fight off the enemy and protect Sasuke." He turned to Ino's team. "What about you guys, want to travel with us, the more of us there are the less likely it is that we'll be attacked."

"As troublesome as you are Naruto, you do have a point." Choji just nodded.

"Like I'm going to be left out here by myself, I'm coming too."

"Then let's go, it's a few hours travel to the tower." Lee was just about to grab Ittou Kabau. "Lee, don't." Lee looked confused, but stopped. "Sorry, it's just that Kakashi-sensei said that it might hurt anyone who tried to wield it that wasn't part of my family."

"No need to apologize, you were watching out for me, thank you my friend."

Lee walked over to Sasuke and lifted him on to his back while Naruto strapped his sword to his back. "Lee are you going to be able to move quickly like that?"

"Don't worry, I will not slow us down. If I do I vow to run around Konoha 150 times with a boulder on my back! And if I cannot, I shall do 100 finger push-ups! And if I cannot do that…"

"Okay Lee, I think we got it, so let's get going." They took off through the treetops, Naruto and Lee in front with Ino and Sakura behind them and Shikamaru and Choji in the back. They made it to the tower before sunset, even though they had to stop once to eat at Choji and Naruto's insistence. They Found Neji and Tenten waiting there and looking very bored.

"Figures that you would come together, the weak always group together for safety."

Naruto's hand went for his sword when Sasuke stirred, the marks no longer present. "We'll see who's weak later Neji. Thanks for your help Lee, I'll see ya later for that match." He waved to them as they all entered the tower and spilt up. "How are you feeling Sasuke?"

"My head's killing me, why'd you hit me?"

"If I recall, you wanted to fight me. The reason I had Shikamaru interfere is because you weren't yourself, whatever that snake freak did to you, it was affecting you so we had to take precautions. We have three days until this test is over, and we have to get it checked out."

"At least put me down."

"Fine, but if you attack again, I'm knocking your ass out again." Naruto stopped and let Sasuke get off his back before they kept walking. "Other then the two teams that we just left, I know Gaara's team passed, but like I said, there are still three days before it's over."

"How do you know?"

"I ran into Kiba, who saw Gaara's team get their second scroll. Kiba says Gaara's insane, and I have to agree after seeing the sight of his slaughter, almost every inch of the clearing was covered in blood."


	6. Chapter 6

They continued into a large room where they found an inscription on the wall. After reading it, they decided to open the scrolls. The scrolls started to smoke and they dropped them to the ground. When the smoke cleared, a man in a chunin vest with a horizontal scar over his nose and hair in a ponytail similar to Shikamaru's stood over the scrolls. "Congratulations on passing the second test."

"Hey Iruka-sensei, could you get someone to take a look at Sasuke. A guy calling himself Orochimaru bit him and now there's this weird mark on his neck."

Iruka looked scared. "Are you sure that's what he said?"

"It was him Iruka-sensei, he summoned snakes. He disguised himself as a Kusa ninja. Anko knows which one if you need to know what he looked like."

"We already know." The four looked up to see Kakashi. "Some Anbu found the real ones dead and without faces, one of Orochimaru's sick jutsu. We've called off the search for him because Anko went into the forest after him and hasn't report in yet so the Anbu are looking for her instead. I doubt we would have found him anyway. Sasuke, come with me, we need to seal that mark."

Sasuke followed Kakashi without complaint while Sakura asked Iruka about the meaning of the inscription. After explaining, Iruka showed them where they could stay the remainder of the test. Naruto spent most of his time in his room, where he could study from the scroll Kakashi gave him, inspected the new seal placed on him, and spread his wings. Finally, the test was over and a chunin came to tell all the people who had already arrived where to go.

--

When Naruto arrived at the arena, he felt the genjutsu again. 'Well at least the possibilities have been narrowed down. It's not anyone on Ino's, Gaara's, or Lee's team. It's not Kiba and it's not my team.' Only six teams out of the possible thirteen passed and they all stood there while the Hokage told them the true meaning behind the Chunin Exam. At this point, a sick looking jonin came out.

"I'm Hayate Gekko… cough… and I'm the proctor. We'll bee having a preliminary since there are so many of you… cough… the rules are anything goes. The match is over when a combatant is unconscious, dead, surrenders, or when the Hokage or I say so." He pointed at a large screen on the wall. "That… cough… will choose who fights who at random, but each will only fight once today. Before we begin… cough… are there any individuals who would like to quit? Know that if one person leaves their teammates can continue." No one did. "Alright."

The names on the board started to flash at high speeds, the first landing on Sasuke and the second on one of Kabuto's teammates. **(I can't remember his name.)**

"Everyone who's not fighting, please proceed to the balconies."

As the genin and their instructors moved, Kakashi walked near Sasuke and spoke quietly, but Naruto still heard him. "Remember, the seal works with your will to suppress the curse seal. If it acts up, I will stop the fight." Naruto kept walking like he hadn't heard anything at all. Kakashi was just behind him as they walked to where Sakura was waiting.

When the fight started, Sasuke charged in and aimed a kick to the older man's chest, but a glowing hand caught it. Sasuke started feeling weaker and broke away. "What the hell was that?"

"You're supposed to be the genius, why don't you tell me?"

Sasuke gritted his teeth and started making hand signs. "Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu!" A large fireball shot out of Sasuke's mouth, his opponent dodge to the let, only to be kicked by Sasuke in the chin, sending him into the air.

Naruto gripped the railing tightly. 'That bastard, I can't believe he would stoop so low as to copy the technique of another Leaf ninja!'

Sasuke appeared behind his opponent and attempted to kick him on the left side, but was block. Spinning, he kicked the right side and punched on the left. He rolled to the left and kicked him hard in the stomach, send the man smashing into the ground. Sasuke land slightly softer, but it took a moment for him to stand back up. "Winner, Sasuke Uchiha." Everyone's attention went back to the board as the medics carried Sasuke's opponent off on a stretcher.

The names landed on Tenten and Temari, and didn't last long. **(It went just like it did in the anime.)**

The next match was Neji and Hinata. Neji proved just how big of an ass he was by berating and mocking Hinata, she had almost given in when Naruto spoke up. "Hinata, 'Fate' is bullshit, kick his ass!" She smiled at him as she activated her Byakugan and got into the Juken stance.

"Very well, I'll show you it is meaningless to go against fate." Neji also activated the Hyuga Bloodline Limit and got into the Juken stance. They both rushed forward, going for open palm strikes, but never landing any hits. When asked, the jonin explained the force behind the Juken style. To the observers, it all looked like an elegant dance, but a few people weren't paying attention only to their movement.

One such person was the whiskered blonde. He had noticed that every time Neji's blow came near her, the genjutsu would weaver. "It's her, she's the one using the genjutsu, and the way their moving, it the same as the girl.' His eyes widened in realization. 'Hinata is the girl I saw, she has the genjutsu up to hide her wings. It all makes sense, she was one of the only ones around when I first felt it, and her sensei is the Genjutsu Mistress, so it make sense why it's so strong.'

He felt like kicking himself, but seeing Neji land a direct low to Hinata's chest, right over her left lung, drove those thoughts out and replaced them with anger. Neji turned around and started walking away, but when Hayate didn't call the match he turned back to see Hinata back on her feet. "You should accept your fate and give up." Hinata didn't answer, she just got back into the Juken stance. "Fine, I end this now."

Everyone in the room felt the energy he built up for the blow, but before the jonin could intervene, Neji had reached Hinata and push his palm forward. His smirk was replaced with a scowled when she was clouded in smoke and Naruto stood there, Neji's palm on his chest over his heart. Blood leaked from the corners of his mouth, but he didn't move an inch. "You are a worthless piece of shit. You sink so low as to try and kill a member of your own family. You claim she is weak, but she is strong in a way you will never be." Naruto stepped back and walked back up to the balcony where Hinata was now lying.

"I… I'm sorry Naruto, I… I wasn't able to do it."

He smiled and crouched down by her side. "You did your best and that's good enough for me, just promise me that you won't let him get to you and you'll keep trying to get stronger." She nodded and smiled. "Good, now let's get a medic to make sure none of the damage is life threatening." He picked her up and walked over to the medics, who fixed her up by the time the match between Ino and Sakura was over. **(It too ended like that in the anime.)** Naruto sat beside Hinata while watching Shino use his bugs to eat all of Kabuto's chakra, causing Kabuto to pass out.

The screen started to run through names again and landed on Kiba and Gaara. Gaara transported into the area in a swirl of sand. Kiba clenched his hand around the railing and gritted his teeth. "Proctor, I forfeit, there's on way I'm fighting him." The Konoha ninja that knew him well looked surprised except for his team and team seven. Gaara even looked disappointed, but went back to where his team was standing.

The screen started again and it chose Choji and Kabuto's other teammate. The way the man stretched didn't save him from Choji's Meat Tank and it ended with him stuck between the wall and Choji's technique. After this match was Shikamaru vs. Kankuro. This match was over very quickly, as Shikamaru used his Shadow Possession no Jutsu and made him take the puppet off his back and hit himself on the head with it. They both fell and the puppet turned out to be Kankuro, but it was still the end of the match as he too was hit on the head.

Temari was laugh along with Naruto and Kiba, most of the others were chuckling or just smiling. "Last match is Naruto Uzumaki and Rock Lee."

Naruto turned to Hinata. "Looks like it's my turn, could I get you to do few things for me?"

"W…what?"

"First wish me luck, second could you use the same genjutsu on me? And third watch my cloak for me please." She looked slightly concerned, but she nodded and started making hand signs. She nodded when she was done and he took off his cloak. Instead of the black t-shirt he used, he was in a black body hugging muscle shirt. She blushed when he handed her his cloak.

"G… good luck Naruto."

"Thanks Angel." He smiled as she blush a darker color and jumped into the arena where Lee was waiting, a smile on his face. "Looks like we get to have our match sooner than we thought."

"Yes, let it be memorable and youthful." Naruto unclasped the cloth on his sword and threw it. It stuck into the wall and he stuffed the cloth and straps into his pants pocket.

"Ready when you are Lee." They rushed forward, engaging in taijutsu, blocking almost every blow, but Lee, being more experienced landed a hard blow that sent Naruto skidding backwards. Despite this, Naruto's smile never wavered and neither did Lee's. Naruto ran forward again, ducking under Lee's punch and hitting him with an uppercut flowed by a kick to the side that had Lee stumbling.

"Your youthfulness is indeed great Naruto. It is an honor to face you."

"I feel the same about you Lee. So what do you say we go all out?"

"Gai-sensei told me to only use it while protecting those precious to me."

"LEE, I SHALL ALLOW IT THIS ONCE, SUCH A YOUTHFUL BATTLE SHOULD BE FOUGHT TO ITS FULLEST EXTENT!"

"YES GAI-SENSEI!" Both boys leapt to a different end of the arena, Lee landed on top of the fingers of the statue doing the ram seal. He removed the orange leg bracers and revealed the weight exactly like the one's on Naruto's arms and legs. He took them off and dropped them, they created a small crater when they hit. Naruto stood on the wall opposite and removed each set one at a time and dropped them together, making a crater the same size as the one Lee made.

In the blink of an eye, they were back in the center of the arena, Lee blocking one of Naruto's legs, while Naruto holding Lee's punch. Naruto brought his leg down and jumped back, as soon as he landed, both he and Lee were gone again. To all but those with the Sharingan and Byakugan as well as a few jonin, they were little more than blurs. The two blurs shot towards each other and then they saw Naruto flying upward. Lee appeared behind him and the bandages on Lee's arms wrapped Naruto in a cocoon.

The two started to spin as they headed for the ground, then they hit and a massive cloud of dust shot up. Slowly the cloud receded until it was only around the crater. Lee limped out hold his right arm and crying. "I shouldn't have used it, I tried to lessen the impact, but… Please forgive me Naruto." Everyone turned to the cloud, Hinata and a few others with tears in their eyes. "I'm sorry Gai-sensei, I used the technique you taught me on a comrade."

Hayate was about to call the match when a groan was heard from the crater. Naruto walked out of the dust massaging the back of his neck. "Damn that hurt." No one said a word they just stared at him. "What?" No one answered so he looked around. Not seeing anything around him, he looked at himself, he was shirtless. "Shit." He looked over his shoulder and saw his wings. "Secrets out huh?" He scratched his cheek.

"Are you alright Naruto?"

"My neck hurts a bit, but nothing too bad." He noticed Lee's condition. "Lee, what happened, you didn't look this bad when I saw you use it before."

"I attempted to soften the landing."

"As much as I would like to continue our fight Lee, I don't think you should continue, you could really hurt yourself."

"Thank you for your concern, I accept my defeat, but I will want a rematch Naruto. I forfeit."

"I'd be happy to fight you again Lee. Keep up on training, but wait till you've recovered first." Lee nodded and with Naruto's help walked over to the medics. When he finished, Naruto gathered up his and Lee's weights, along with Ittou Kabau and gave Lee's weights to Gai, who continued to rant on and on about Naruto's youthfulness.

"Will those who won please come down here." When they got down, Hayate had a box and Ibiki stood there with a clipboard. "Now draw a slip of paper out of this box and read it off." He moved down the line from his right to left.

Neji: One

Shikamaru: Five

Choji: Six

Shino: Eight

Sasuke: Three

Temari: Seven

Gaara: Four

Naruto: Two

Ibiki wrote on the clipboard as they read the numbers off. He turned it so they could see. "The matches for the finals will be as follows. Match One: Neji Hyuga vs. Naruto Uzumaki, Match Two: Sasuke Uchiha vs. Gaara Sabaku, Match Three: Shikamaru Nara vs. Choji Akimichi, Match Four: Temari Sabaku vs. Shino Aburame. The finals will be held in a month's time at the large open arena of the village. While some of you have shown all you skills and others hardly any at all, the month break is to train in new skills or to improve on current ones. That is all, the time and date as well as directions for the Suna ninja will be sent to you a week before the finals. Dismissed." All of the genin left except Naruto and Hinata's team.

Naruto went up to the balcony to find Hinata passed out with a blush and smile on her face. Kurenai walked up to him. "I want to thank you Naruto, for saving Hinata from Neji's attack. Most people would have died from an attack like that."

"We both know I'm not like most people. And I don't take kindly to anyone attacking my friends. He will pay for that in the finals. She asked you to help her conceal them didn't she?"

"So you noticed too. Yes I could help you too, but it's a bit late now."

"Probably, before too long, everyone in the village will know about mine. I won't say a word about hers, but I take it at least Shino knows."

"Hey, I know too, just because I didn't do so great at the academy doesn't mean I'm stupid!"

"She passed out after she saw you."

"As much as I want to stay for her to wake up, I have to find Kakashi-sensei, so could you tell her I would like to meet her at Training Ground Seven tonight at eight?"

"Sure, it's the least I can do." He took his cloak off of the ground and took out the camera before placing it over her. He placed a henge on himself and left the tower.

--

He found Kakashi right where he thought he would, coming out of the Adult Bookstore. "Hey Kakashi-sensei, can you…"

"No I can't train you Naruto, I'm training Sasuke."

"That wasn't what I was gonna ask."

Kakashi looked shocked when he turned to the blonde. "Really? Then what did you want?"

"I was wondering if I could get the next scroll on sealing, I finished with the first one our second day at the tower."

"Just a second." Kakashi disappeared in a puff of smoke to reappear a minute later in the same fashion. "Here you go, there's one more that I have, after that maybe the Hokage can get you some more."

"Thanks sensei. See ya later." Naruto waved as he walked off.

'I was positive that he would ask me to train him, oh well that's just one less problem to deal with.'

Naruto was slightly angry at the jonin. 'The bastard thinks that the world revolves around Sasuke, and he doesn't think I knew he would blow me off, some genius.' He headed for the hot springs to try to fix his chakra control problem. 'Let's see, if I remember correctly, that guy said that to walk on water you needed to constantly adjust the chakra output to make up for depth, waves, and weight I think.'

He was pretty close to the female baths, but still far enough away that they wouldn't care. He channeled chakra to his feet and attempted to step onto the water, only to fall in. "Hot, hot, hot, hot!" He jumped out of the water. "Damn that Orochimaru and his damn seal." He was about to try again when he heard perverted giggling like when Kakashi read his book.

He looked around and found the source to be a white haired man with a large scroll on his back. "This is wonderful, my next book will be the best yet."

"Pervert!" The man only had enough time to turn and see the blonde jump away before there were screams. The women rushed out in towels and started beating the man and chased him off with Naruto following on the rooftops. He landed near the man. "Hey pervert, you're lucky they were only civilians."

"You, you're the one who cause me to abandon my research!"

"If that's what you want to call it pervert."

"Stop calling me that brat! Don't you know who I am?"

"No, should I?"

"I'm the Great Toad Sage, Jiraiya! Men envy me and women adore me. I'm the world renowned author of the great Icha Icha novels!"

"So that's what you meant before, you were 'researching' for you next perverted book. And you said you're Jiraiya the Toad Sage?"

"Yes, I did. I am one of the Densetsu no Sannin along with Tsunade and the traitor Orochimaru."

"Then maybe you can help me."

"I don't have time for this."

Jiraiya turned and started walking away. "He placed a seal on me." Jiraiya stopped. "He called it Gogyo Fuin."

Jiraiya turned around. "Are you sure that's what he called it?" Naruto nodded. "Then come with me." Jiraiya started walking again and Naruto followed him. Jiraiya led him to a clearing through which a stream flowed. "Now expose the area he placed the seal and channel chakra."

Naruto made the ram seal. "Kai." His henge dispelled, exposing his upper-body and wings. He then started channeling chakra to make the seals appear.

Jiraiya eyes widened when he saw the wings and even more when the seals appeared. A small smile crept onto his face. 'He looks so much like him' "Okay brat, I can get rid of it, but it could hurt for a bit."

"Just get rid of the damn thing." Blue flames appeared on the fingertips of Jiraiya's hand.

He slammed the flames into the same places Orochimaru had. "Gogyo Kaiin." Naruto fell to his knees holding his stomach and when the pain stopped, he looked down and saw that the seal was gone. Naruto stood up and walk over to the stream, carefully stepping out on to the surface. He smiled when he didn't sink and found he could walk on the water with ease.

"Thanks Ero-sennin."

"Don't call me that brat!"

"My name's Naruto Uzumaki. Thanks for the help, now I can train to my fullest for the finals."

"Are you talking about the Chunin Exam?"

"Yeah, I'm in the first match against that asshole Neji Hyuga."

"Let me ask you something kid, have you ever used chakra that wasn't your own?"

"If you're talking about Kyuubi, you don't have to beat around the bush, I already know, and yes I have used its chakra, once out of rage and again at my request to help my teammate. But I can't handle very much of its power."

"I can help you with that if you want."

"So you're going to train me to use more of Kyuubi's chakra?"

"If you want me to."

'What do you think Kyuubi?'

**'I say go for it Kit, in order to summon me, you'll need at least some of my chakra.'**

'It's good to have you back Kyuubi.'

**'Good to be back Kit.'**

"Alright, when and where?"

"Meet me at the memorial near Training Ground Seven at eight tomorrow."

"Okay, see you then." Naruto put the henge back up and walked away, unaware that Jiraiya was on longer there.

--

Sarutobi looked at his student over a pile of papers. "To what do I owe your visit Jiraiya?"

"Naruto Uzumaki."

"What about Naruto?"

"Orochimaru placed a five pronged seal on him. You know what would have happened had I not removed it?"

"Yes, it would have backed up the Kyuubi's chakra until it ripped him apart from the inside. No one told me about the seal or I would have removed it myself, so thank you Jiraiya, but that's not the reason you're here. If that was it, you wouldn't have come here, so what is it?"

"I'm going to train him, at least until the finals. I thought you would like to know and I wanted to ask about his wings."

"You know as much on that subject as I do, he only revealed them today by accident. There is one thing I think will interest you, he's learning the basics of sealing from scroll Kakashi is giving him, maybe you can help him in that aspect."

"You sure know how to milk a guy for all he's worth sensei. I'll consider it."


	7. Chapter 7

Hinata sat against the middle post at Training Ground Seven, Naruto's cloak hanging from it. When her sensei had told her of the requested meeting, she went immediately, even though she had almost a two-hour wait before he said he was going to show up. It was quarter after seven now and she had stopped wondering what he wanted to talk about half an hour ago, instead her mind turned to remembering how he looked without his cloak. Need less to say, her blush put roses to shame.

As time ticked by, these thoughts gradually progressed. 'His chest and arms are so toned, but not bulky. What I wouldn't give to just be held by those strong arms, and rest my head on his shoulder. I can only imagine what the rest of him looks like with all the training it would have taken to look like that. Then again, I could always take a peek.' A small trickle of bleed came from her nose, which she quickly whipped away. 'No Hinata, bad thoughts, I can't do that to him, no matter how badly I want to. He wouldn't want me to and it could ruin my chances with him.' Try as she might though, she couldn't get the image out of her head, even when the real thing came walking up to her.

"I was tied to that post a few months ago." His voice shook her out of her thoughts. "We were all supposed to be, but I got caught trying to steal food from the lunches Kakashi-sensei brought." Hinata giggled at this and he smiled. "You're actually earlier than I expected, not that I mind though, it's a nice change of pace from the constantly late sensei of mine." He sat against the same post, just to her right.

"Y…you said you w…wanted to talk about something N…Naruto?"

"Yeah, but before that, could you look and see if anyone's around? What I have to say is really important and I don't want too many people to know." She nodded and activated her Byakugan, seeing no one, she turned it off and shook her head slightly. "Thanks, first thing first, I was wondering if you had a top on?" He slapped his hands over his mouth as Hinata's eyes rolled to the back of her head and her head fell on to his shoulder.

While he waited for her to wake up, he was unsure what to do. Kyuubi wasn't helping matters either, he was laughing his ass off from inside his cage. **'Oh my Kit, you have such a way with words.'**

'It's not that funny Kyuubi, if she thinks that I am that perverted, she could kill me.' He felt her start to stir and looked to find her lavender eyes open and her face a dark red, almost brown. His face was a light maroon. "I'm so sorry Hinata, I didn't mean anything perverted I swear. I was asking because if you were, I was hoping you would show me your wings." Her face toned down a bit and a small smile appeared on her lips.

"I…it's al…alright Naruto. I know y…you're not that kind of p…person." He stood up saying thanks and held out his hand to help her up. She took it and was amazed by the feel of it. It was rough, but warm. At the same time, the soft silk-like feel of hers amazed him.

She released the genjutsu and spread her white wings. The shirt she had on was not something Naruto had never imaged Hinata would wear. It was pale blue with it wrapping rather loosely around the abdomen with it only covering the front and sides of the chest, being held up by two spaghetti stings tied behind her neck. What Naruto first took notice of was what any male would, Hinata was well develop, but he quickly looked away. Her wings were as white as freshly fallen snow, his view went back to her face. "Even if I was desperate, that wouldn't look good on me." He smiled when she giggled again. "All joking aside, you are probably the only one our age that can pull that look off." Their blushed returned, at a fairly lower level.

"Okay, if you want you can put the genjutsu back up, either way I'll get to why I asked you here." She nodded and reapplied the genjutsu. "These wings were given to us by fallen angels for unknown reasons. Fallen angels live in a world alongside ours and kill both demons and angels because they're jealous that those groups were given a realm in which to reside. They also gave us power, I'm not sure what though. Now I have some bad news as well, the fallen angels gave us both power because if only one were to receive it, the world would be thrown out of balance and would be destroyed. I'm not sure how it works when we die, and I'd prefer not having to find out. There's one more thing that could be good or bad news depending on how you look at it, you were given the power to kill me if you want to."

"Wh…why would I, a…and h…how do you know all this?"

"Actually, it's the same answer to both. You remember the stories of the Nine-tailed Fox?" She nodded. "What we were told was a lie. Yondaime may have been the strongest Kage ever, but he was still human, and no human can kill a demon, let alone a Bijuu, instead he did the next best thing, he sealed it. The problem with this is that the only thing strong enough to contain a being as strong as Kyuubi is a human body. Now since a young child to adults chakra coils are developed, placing a demon in them is impossible because it's chakra is too strong and would tear them apart, freeing the demon. So the only option is a newborn, they alone can hold a demon because their chakra coils will develop to withstand the demonic chakra." Hinata saw how the sadness consumed him as he continued. "Unfortunately, only one baby was born the day the fox attacked, it was me. I hold the strongest of all demons in my stomach, that's why you were given the power to kill me, in case I couldn't handle both his and their power."

Hinata was horrified. 'How could he do that to a child?' "Is that way almost everyone warns me to stay away from you? Why they give you such looks when you walk down the street." He nodded slowly while staring down at the ground. Of all the things he thought she might do, he never thought of what she did do. She wrapped her arms around him, he could feel her tears running down his chest. "I don't care, you will always be you. I promise, you won't have to face this alone anymore."

He wrapped his arms around her as well. "Hinata, thank you." They stayed like this for a few moments when Naruto grinned. "You know Hinata, you didn't stutter once the last time you spoke.

Hinata smiled too. "Your right, and I won't from now on either."

They both let go and Naruto went to get his cloak. "Be sure to keep the blush though, I think it kind of cute." Those words made her blush and he smiled seeing it. "Come on, I'll buy you dinner."

At this Hinata smirked, it was one that eerily similar to the second examiner's. "Why Naruto, I do believe you asked me on a date."

Naruto chuckled. "What happened to the shy quiet Hinata?"

"She found what she was missing, confidence, purpose, and acknowledgement. There is one thing that I still hope to find, but I'm not telling you what yet."

He shrugged. "Fair enough." Suddenly, a large smile appeared on his face and a mischievous glint appeared in his eyes. "We need to find Kiba."

"Why?"

"I have something on Sasuke and he's the only one I know who can spread it fast enough that isn't part of his fan club. Normally I'd do it myself, but after today, I think he could use a good shot at the Uchiha's pride." A massive wave of killing intent rushed over them, causing Hinata to shake in fear, but Naruto seemed unaffected.

**'Kit, I think it's the redhead Suna boy, but there's something else about it, something familiar. Your friend doesn't seem to be able to handle killing intent at such high levels, flare your chakra to lessen the effect on her.'** Naruto let off a burst of chakra that was visible to Hinata even without her Byakugan active.

"Hinata, I have to check that out, I'll understand if you don't want to come. Just so you know, our furry friend thinks that it's Gaara." She was hesitant and he smiled at her before taking off towards the source. Minutes later, Hinata was running along the rooftops by his side. "I told you that you didn't have to come."

"Like I'm going to let you face him alone. You saw what he was capable of."

"No offence Hinata, but I doubt either of us will make much difference if he that determined to kill. With any luck, a large enough flare of chakra will stop him, or at least slow him till Anbu get there, if they aren't already. Hopefully they are, because 'large enough' could include _his_ chakra, and that would draw the attention of Anbu, and probably the old man himself."

"Who do you think he's after?"

"If I had to guess, I'd say Kiba. I'm only saying this because when Kiba forfeited, almost everyone, including his teammates from what I could tell, didn't notice his disappointment at not being able to fight. Though I don't blame them for not seeing it, it was subtle, only visible in his eyes for a moment."

When they found the source, they saw it was indeed Gaara and Kiba. The dog-boy was doing everything in his power to keep from getting caught by the sand. "Fight me coward!" Gaara launched another wave of sand at Kiba.

"Gaara, stop this!" Naruto flared a large amount of chakra, the only reaction being the redhead looking in his direction.

"This doesn't concern you Uzumaki, if you get in my way I will kill you!"

"Just because you weren't able to fight earlier doesn't give you the right to kill him! If you don't stop, I'll make you!"

"You believe you can? You know my power, but I have a real demon inside of me. Because of this, I love only myself and that makes me strong. You who fight for others can never beat me."

'So that it, he holds a demon as well.' "Gaara, you think you are the only one to know of loneliness, of the darkness? I know of both intimately, and it's because of my friends that I escaped them, you don't have to be alone, if you let people get close you can be saved as well."

"No, you lie! I can only love myself, I must kill to prove I'm alive. Mother will feast on your blood Uzumaki!" The sand rushed towards Naruto and Hinata, but before the sand encased them, Naruto pushed her out of the way. "Sabaku Kyu." Hinata and Kiba stared in fear as they knew what was going to happen next. Gaara raised his hand and clenched his fist. "Sabaku Soso." The sand compressed, but unlike the first time they saw it, no blood exploded from it. Gaara's face contorted into a frown. He turned his head quickly to find Naruto standing right behind him, his Suna no Tate being held back by what appeared to be a wall of red chakra. What really grabbed Gaara's attention though, was that Naruto eyes glowed red.

Naruto leaned forward so his mouth was near Gaara's ear, not wanting to be over heard by Kiba. **"By your control over sand, I would say you contain Shukaku. He is also the most likely choice since you're from Suna, but know this, Kyuubi and I do not take threats lightly."** Gaara's eyes widened as he heard Shukaku whimper and felt something he hadn't in years, fear. **"Leave now, I would prefer not to have to kill you, it would be such a waste to kill such a worthy opponent." **Gaara just nodded and disappeared in a swirl of sand. The chakra vanished and his eyes bled back to their normal blue. "You guys alright?"

Kiba's stared at Naruto in shock. "How did you do that?"

"Do what, get him to leave or survive that attack?"

"Both."

"First, that was a Kage Bunshin, Hinata came with it, and I was following behind. As for getting him to leave, it quite simple, he probably thought that it was actually me and when he saw that I was alive, he got scared."

Kiba shook his head while he smiled. "Sometimes I forget why you're such a great prankster."

Naruto smiled too. "Thank you, but that wasn't nearly as good as what I have in store for my next trick. For it though, I need your help Kiba, you in?"

"That depends, who's in against, and what do you need my help for?"

"Ah, to answer both, take a look at this." He pulls a picture from his pants pocket and hands it to the dog-boy. Said boy looks at it and starts to laugh hysterically. Hinata's curiosity getting the better of her takes a look and then looks at Naruto.

"Did you henge Kage Bunshin to take this."

Naruto shook his head. "If I did, I would have put them in more 'suggestive' positions. I took that of them in the Forest of Death. Kiba, what I need you to do is spread it, you are the only one I know who can fast enough, that's not in his fanclub. So, will you do it?"

"Hell yeah, not only did you just save my ass, but this has got to be the best bit of blackmail ever, and against Sasuke no less, it's priceless. Please tell me you made more than this one."

"Of course, can't spread it if there aren't copies." He pulled out two scrolls. "There are about a hundred in each, just channel some chakra into them and they'll come out. How long do you think it will take to get that to every corner of Konoha?"

"End of tomorrow tops."

Naruto smirked evilly, "Actually Kiba, hold off on distributing them until just before the Finals, it won't do to have the intended target not see one. Any earlier and the fangirls will have all but one burned, that one will be hanging in Sakura's room, and she won't let anyone see it."

"Deal, so where were you going before you came here?"

"We were looking for you, and then going to go get dinner, you're welcome to join us if Naruto doesn't mind." Kiba looked at her shocked before turning to Naruto.

"Naruto, did you make a clone look like Hinata?" Naruto shook his head and Kiba looked back towards Hinata. "Then something isn't right here, she barely ever talks without a stutter and can barely go a few minutes with you without fainting. The blush is there though, and she smells like Hinata." He took on a thoughtful expression before smirking and looking back at Naruto. "Does this mean she finally told you?"

Hinata's blush increased. "She didn't say it, but what she did say and do was enough for me to know."

"I don't understand how you didn't before, I swear everyone but you knew."

"Alright boys, if were going to get something to eat, I suggested we do so, my father will get upset if I late getting home." The evening was consisted of ramen and being embarrassed by Ayame while Kiba laughed, and found Naruto walking Hinata home after saying farewell to Kiba. "Naruto, I want to thank you for saving me earlier. Neji isn't really that bad, he's just suffered so much in his life because of the Main House. I know you're facing him in the next round, please don't hurt him too badly."

"He doesn't deserve pity after trying to kill you, his own cousin, yet you give it to him. I don't care what anyone says Hinata, you are the strongest person I know. I promise I won't hurt him badly, but he will pay for what he did, all I want to know is why."

Her expression saddened. "Every Branch house member has a seal placed on them at a young age to prevent the Byakugan from falling into enemy hands should the person die or heaven forbid their eyes be removed while alive, but that's not all it does. The Main house members are taught a set of hand signs that when used will torture a Branch house member by killing brain cells, if used too long the person will die. Because of this seal, our family is divided and the Branch houses are slaves in all but name. If I can get strong enough, I'll take over as the clan head and I can get rid of the seal, but even if I do, there's a chance that my younger sister will be branded before I can. I would rather be branded myself than have her suffer the sealing."

"You said every person in the Branch houses has one, so why is only Neji taking action?"

"He had an opportunity to do so without consequence because of the setting and that I willing participated. But also because his father died because of me." Naruto looked at her urging her to continue. "When I was younger, a group of Kumo ninja came to sign a peace treaty, but that was just a front, their real objective was to capture a Main house member, they came after me. Just before they escaped, my father killed them and because of it, Kumo claimed they had no knowledge of this and threaten war if my father wasn't turned over to them. The Hyuga council and village council decided that it couldn't afford to lose the Clan head, so they had my father's twin brother, Neji's father, killed and sent his body to Kumo. They could not tell the difference because the seal disappears after death and without it, they were identical. Neji has a deep rooted hatred of me because I'm the reason his father was taken from him."

"You shouldn't blame yourself Hinata, you had no control over the situation. Your father did what any decent father would do by protecting you when you couldn't protect yourself, and like you would rather be branded over your sister, the same could be true for them, Neji's father could have sacrificed himself to protect yours. A family is supposed to watch out for the other members, and when they don't, things like the Uchiha Massacre happen. Neji says it's fate, but it's the choices made that determine the outcome." Hinata looked at him in a state of shock, to which he pouted. "I can be smart when I want to be. I'll try to make him see that, and if that doesn't work, I'll beat it into his head."

"Peoples views aren't changed easily, they usually have to be forced to see that their way doesn't work." As they arrived at the gate to the Hyuga compound just as Neji opened the gate, his scowl evident on his face at the sight of them.

"Your father just sent me to find you Hinata, you're late returning. I'll inform him of your return."

"That's alright Neji, I'm sure he would like to speak with me anyway. Good night Naruto, see you for lunch tomorrow?"

"I'll try, but I can't promise anything, who knows what Ero-sennin is planning for me to do." She smiled and went in, but Neji stayed put. "You have something to say?"

"The fact that she needs you to give her strength is what makes her weak."

"All I do is encourage her when others, like yourself, belittle her for doing her best, and despite all of that, she hasn't given up, that is true strength."

"Her best is pathetic."

"Then help her instead of knocking her down!"

"She is weak and she is destined to remain weak, no amount of help will change that."

He turned to walk inside. "And yet if she had wanted to, she could have destroyed you in an instant." Neji froze. "She is different from the others Neji, if you took the time to stop pitying yourself, you would have seen that. It seems your eyes aren't all seeing after all." He turned to look at Naruto to find him already walking away.

--

Naruto was leaning against the middle post looking over towards the Memorial Stone at quarter to eight, his eyes were unfocused and staring off into space. 'If he's like Kakashi-sensei, I'm going to kill him, or make sure to ruin his 'research' every chance I get.'

**'I don't see the difference between what he does and what you did when you created Oiroke no Jutsu Kit.'**

'The difference is that I don't make money off of it, and I look like how I imagine I would look if I were a girl, granted a rather matured girl, but it doesn't look like anyone else.'

**'Maybe you should give the book a chance, that Ichigan jonin seems to enjoy it. You may learn a few things.'**

"I'm surrounded by perverts."

"I take offence to that brat, I'm not a pervert." Naruto turned around to find Jiraya walking up to him. "I'm a super pervert, but just out of curiosity, who were you talking to?"

"Who do you think? The furball told me to give your books a chance."

**'Watch it brat, I don't have to help you.'**

'What do you want me to do? I can't say Kyuubi because I don't know if anyone's around, and he is too general.'

The kitsune snarled. **'Fine, I'll forgive it this time, but don't do it again.'**

"Kid, you alright?"

"Yeah, he's just not happy I called him that. So, what first Ero-sennin?"

"First, stop calling me that! Now the way I figure it, to handle more, you just have to use more so your body will adapt, problem being, you can't possibly have a jutsu that requires that much chakra if you're only a genin unless your sensei taught you one, which isn't likely if you're not training with them."

"And you will?"

"Yep, normally genin would never have the chance to learn such a technique due to their small chakra reserves, but you're anything but normal."

"What's that suppose to mean?"

"That you are a rare case, from what Sarutobi-sensei told me, your reserves must be close to the size of low jonin and that's without the fox. So I have no doubt that you'll be able to do it, once you have the everything you need and practice it."

"So what is it?"

Jiraiya smiled. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu, but first you have to sign a summoning contract, I just so happen to have the Toad summoning contract."

"Um, Ero-sennin, I already signed a contract."

The smile turned to a frown. "You did?" Naruto nodded. "So you can already summon?"

"Not really, see, I signed the contract, but the one I got it from can't remember the head signs to do it." Jiraiya face vaulted. "But since you can summon, can you show me the hand signs?"

He got up and dusted himself off. "Stupid gaki. Before you start trying to summon, do you know how to call the fox's chakra?"

"Not really, the times I used it, he gave it to me, I'm not sure I can call it from him, last time I asked."

"You won't always have the time to ask." An evil glint appeared in his eyes. "But there's an easy way to fix that problem too, follow me."


	8. Chapter 8

Naruto had followed Jiraiya outside of the village, and a ways into part of the forest he hadn't been before. "Why'd you drag me out here Ero-sennin? How do you plan to teach me to call on the fox's chakra?"

Jiraiya had an evil smirk on his face. "Like this." He hit Naruto square in the chest with a chakra enhanced palm sending him flying backwards through brush and low branches. As he started descending, he came out of the trees, but instead of hitting the ground, he saw rock spiked walls raising to meet the sky around him. He saw Jiraiya standing at the ledge with a sad smile saying words unheard by him. "Forgive me Yondaime."

All Naruto heard was the wind rushing by his head. 'What the hell is wrong with him?!'

'**I honestly don't know, but I suggest you do something.'** Naruto gather chakra to his hands and tried to grab hold of one of the spikes, but his chakra disappeared upon contact.

'Shit, now what?'

'**Well I see three options, the first, which I don't recommend, you just keep falling and hope you have a soft landing.'** Naruto sweat dropped. **'I did say I didn't recommend it. Second you open those wings of yours and see if they actually work, or you can do what he brought you here to and summon me to save our asses.'**

Naruto felt the surge of yokai and cut his thumb on one of his enlarged canines. He quickly did the series of hand signs and pointed his right palm downwards. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" All that he could see was smoke, and then red fur as he landed on the back of Kyuubi. One of the fox's tails wrapped around him and placed him on the nearest stone spike before hitting him in the stomach. He last sight he saw before darkness claimed him was Kyuubi jumping into a swirling red vortex with a glowing blue orb at tip to its middle tail.

--

At the top of the canyon Jiraiya was getting worried, he had felt a build up of Naruto's chakra, but it disappeared quickly. He smiled when he felt the malicious feeling of Kyuubi's yokai, and the roar of the summoning, but the feeling of the yokai didn't go away, instead it got even stronger, then all at once it vanished along with Naruto's chakra signature. His eyes widened and he took off towards the Hokage tower as fast as his summon toad could carry him.

Upon arrival, he barged into Sarutobi's office, where said man was trying to quickly hide a little orange book. He sighed in relief when he saw who it was. "Oh, it's only you Jiraiya, how goes Naruto's training?"

"I was teaching him to summon."

"So you had him sign the toad contact?"

"No, he said he already signed one."

The Hokage's mouth hung open. "He what?"

"I was hoping you would know what kind of animal he signed with."

"You didn't even bother to ask?"

"At first I figured you or Kakashi might have let him sign one of yours."

"You should know from when you where younger that Enma doesn't like upstart kids like the two of you, and Kakashi's contact only consists of his six Ninken. And he only recently met Anko and Gai, so I doubt either of them allowed it. Why aren't you out asking him what his summon is?"

"Yeah, uh, he kind of vanished while I was trying to get him to summon the boss."

"What do you mean vanished?"

"Well, I knocked him off a cliff so he had motivation to use Kyuubi's power to summon, and then his chakra signature just disappeared." The old Hokage saw red and with strength he didn't know he had, he sent Jiraiya flying so far that Tsunade would have been proud.

--

When Naruto opened his eyes, he was eye to eye with a lying down Kyuubi. **"Good, you're awake."**

"Kyuubi? Did you get smaller?"

The fox demon laughed. **"No, you've gotten bigger. Because of the power that you received, your body had to be left in your realm, so I brought your soul here. You're in the body of one of my kin, she has the same speed as you without your weights, strength, endurance and close to the same 'chakra' capacity as you."**

"She?"

"**Yes she. She's still a kit, but is close to her second tail, which stronger than I gave you credit for."**

"I don't know how to fight in this form, can we make this a little more fair?"

"**We demons do have the power to shape shift, you could turn into a human form, but you'd shrink considerably."**

"Could you become smaller as well, if only by half."

A growl was heard from all around him and it was now that he first took notice on the other kitsune around them. **"You dare ask Kyuubi-sama such a thing, you should know your place mortal."**

"**Silence! He has merely asked me to even the battlefield in terms of size, not strength, so I will honor the request." **Kyuubi shrunk down to half his size as Naruto turned into himself minus the wings, cloak, and sword, but looking like he does when using Kyuubi's power. **"Pass or fail, my kin have a…" **A sinister grin appeared on the already malicious face of the giant fox. **"A surprise for you."**

Naruto shrugged and started doing some light stretches. "Whatever, as long as I go home in one piece." He stopped after a minute and stood tall with his hand made into fist at his sides. "Ready when you are Kyuubi."

**(A/N: Before I start, I just want to say I've never written anything like this fight, so if it sucks don't give me too much crap about it. Suggestions for improvement are always welcome though.)**

Kyuubi started things off by launching one of his many tails towards the blonde, who charged forward and at the last second side-stepped only to be assaulted by another aimed to take out his feet. He jumped and landed on said tail and continued towards his target. With a flick of his tail, Kyuubi sent Naruto flying into the air before launching five tails at him. Naruto twisted in the air, punching one tail away and continuing the motion, axe kicked another, but was unable to block or dodge the other three, one hitting him in the left shoulder, the second in the stomach, and then another knocking him towards the ground. Again twisting himself, he managed to get his feet beneath him and sent a large blast of chakra out of them just before hitting, softening his landing. As soon as he touched the ground, he charged again, kicking up dust, and again Kyuubi sent forth his tails. Putting more chakra into his feet, Naruto launched himself into the air. Kyuubi laughed at his attempt. **"Not very bright kit."**

Naruto's only response was a large fox-like smile. Three tails shot at him from below and in front, Naruto used his index and middle fingers to make a cross. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu." A single clone appeared in front of him, and reaching over his with both hands grabbed the hands of the real Naruto and threw him higher and towards Kyuubi before being impaled. Another tail moved to intercept him in the form of a clothesline, but he made the same seal. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu." Another two clones appeared, one in front of him and the other behind. The first latched on to the tail with only his arm, leaving his feet dangling while the other pushed the real Naruto downward a little and disappeared. Naruto grabbed on to his clone's legs and use them like a trapeze to throw himself even closer.

A fifth tail came from behind and smacked him on the head, only to have him turn into a puff of smoke. The real Naruto was running along Kyuubi's tail, having used Kawarimi to switch with the clone he had just used. Kyuubi attempted to shake him off, but he was using chakra to stick the tail. Kyuubi shot his other tails to try and knock Naruto off, at first he jumped onto the attacking tails, but then Kyuubi started to send more then one at a time. Three tails were coming from the front, back and left side as he passed the halfway point. 'Damn it, I'm so close!' He chanced a quick look around and spotted a single opening. 'It's dangerous and risky, perfect, it's just my style.' He continued to run, but was moving towards the right. Just as the tails were about to hit him, he completely shifted his weight to the side and, to the surprise of everyone one watching, was running along the underside of the tail. He finished the spiral to get back on the top as he reached the base of the tail.

Kyuubi, who had been keeping Naruto in sight since he used the clones, was finding it increasingly difficult to follow his movements, as he seemed to be picking up speed as he journeyed across the massive back. Naruto hadn't really noticed the increase of speed, being focused on his goal, Kyuubi's head. Kyuubi was continuously lashing at the blonde with his tails, but was having more trouble than before as when Naruto dodged them, he would often times hit himself, and while it didn't really hurt him, he was annoyed to no end. As Naruto reach mid-back, Kyuubi made a hit at last, sending him skidding to the left, but Kyuubi growled in slight pain as Naruto pulled on two handfuls of fur to keep himself on. Naruto stood back up and started moving again. Kyuubi launched all nine tails at him from behind and the sides. Six came in from the sides forming a disconnected wall that left spaces to small for him to get through quickly, let alone before the remaining tails hit him. Adding chakra to his feet again, he jumped over, where the last three tails were waiting.

The first tail shot past him, spinning him with its wake, but also giving him the added power he used to knock the second tail away. The third tail however, hit him in the gut and, with a quick flick from Kyuubi, smashed him into the ground. Kyuubi's paw replaced the tail to hold him down, applying enough pressure to make it difficult to move, but not enough to crush him, leaving only Naruto's head uncovered. He could feel Naruto trying to push him off and laughed. **"Even now you refuse to admit defeat. You've put up a better fight than I would have expected kit, there is no shame in giving up this battle, I am king of demons for a reason after all."**

Throughout the whole speech, Naruto's smile never wavered. "If you really think I'm about to give up, you don't know me at all. I'm having the time of my life, and I'm not about to stop now." He reached deep into his chakra reserves, coursing it through his entire body and slowly started to push Kyuubi's paw up. Even with Kyuubi putting on more pressure, Naruto made it to his feet, the paw pushing against his hands and shoulders. Although he couldn't see it, Kyuubi smiled and his eyes glowed red. He was starting to overpower Naruto again as the boy was on his knees and staining to remain upright. 'Damn it! I haven't even hit the bastard yet! I won't give up, I won't be helpless, never again!' He reached even deeper into his reserves and pulled almost all of it out.

He made it back to his feet when he heard a rough but feminine voice. **'You're going to use up all you energy like this mortal.'**

'I take it you're the one lending me her body.'

**'Indeed I am. While I commend you for doing so well against Kyuubi-sama, you should give up now, before he does too much damage.'**

'I won't give up, I've come too far to go back to what I was before.' He pushed with everything he had and felt the weight leaving his shoulders. He could see every vein in his arms sticking out and felt his leg trembling, but he kept pushing, Kyuubi continuing to apply more force upon him. Just as he was sure his legs about to give out from under him, he felt like he had liquid fire in his veins and his strength was returning to him. He threw the paw to the side, not very far obviously, but enough to get him out from under it, unfortunately, one of Kyuubi's claws slashed him across the back hip to shoulder. Forcing back the pain, he ran towards Kyuubi again, pushing chakra into his legs before he could blink, he was in front of the massive fox and used the remaining chakra in his legs to jump and land a raising kick to his jaw. When he landed he stopped moving, grabbing his head in pain. 'What the hell's happening?'

'**I must thank you, I don't know how you did it, but you've gained me my second tail, something that should have taken me another century at least.** **The pain is because you used so much yokai that my body wasn't ready to handle. It should pass shortly, but you won't be able to continue until after it does.'**

'That's fine, at least I was able to get him once. My name's Naruto by the way, would you mind telling me yours?'

'**Manako.'**

'It's a pleasure to meet you Manako. I want to thank you for letting me borrow your body and say sorry for the damage done to it.'

**'I did it because it was Kyuubi-sama's wish, and my second tail is more than enough to make up for it.'**

Naruto couldn't help but smile despite the pain that wrack the body he was in. When he finally took notice of his surroundings, he found he was curled up on the ground with Kyuubi looking down at him. **"Ready to give up yet kit, or are you going to continue to fight in your condition?"**

"I… I'm done."

Kyuubi chuckles. **"That has to be the smartest thing to come from your mouth yet kit. I must commend you, that kick was quite powerful, not enough to do much damage to me, but it stung, which is more than I can say for your villages pathetic attempts to stop me."**

The pain was starting to leave Naruto. Being able to stand, he turned towards the other kitsunes. "So, what's the verdict?"

"**You are reckless and headstrong."** There was a sigh from the speaker. **"However your cleverness in battle and determination make up for these, add to the fact that you were able to deal a blow to Kyuubi-sama and unlocked the kit's second tail early, we've decided that you are worthy to be the first summoner of the Kitsune clan."** Naruto bowed to them, but in the process agitated his back wound to which he winced. **"Kyuubi-sama, they should be here soon."** Kyuubi nodded and laid down next to Naruto.

"Who should be here soon?"

The evil grin reappeared on Kyuubi's face. **"It wouldn't be a surprise if I told you kit. Just sit back and let the healing powers of that body do their job."** Not having a problem with this suggestion, Naruto sat down. After only five minutes, his back was like new, and he was getting bored, that is until Kyuubi spoke up. **"So you're finally here."**

Naruto stood up when he heard a voice that didn't sound like that of a demon. "Kyuubi? How can you be here?! That would mean…"

The man's words were cut off as Naruto walked around in front of Kyuubi. The man he saw had shaggy blonde with blue eyes, wearing the standard leaf jonin outfit and vest with a white trench coat with red flames at the bottom. "YOU!" A clawed hand of Manako's red yokai shot from Naruto's outstretched hand, grabbing the man he recognized as the Yondaime Hokage. "Why the fuck aren't you rotting in the Shinigami's bowel you bastard?!"

**"My kin made a bet with the Shinigami kit, if I were to return before your name appeared on his list he was to release my sealer for as long as I remained here, but if it didn't my soul would be forfeited and you would gain all my powers, effectively becoming the new Kyuubi. Do you enjoy your surprise kit?"**

"I think that just this once I'll take a page out of Gaara's book." His hand started to clench, causing the yokai to do the same, squeezing the Yondaime, whose face was contorted in pain. "You have no idea how much I wish I could kill you right now. To live for twelve years being hated by damn near everyone and not knowing why, being thrown out of stores, overcharged for barely edible food. Being glared at and having names or insults whispered just loud enough for you to hear everywhere you go, or to have parents tell their children to stay away from you."

As his hand was about to clench completely, a fox came running towards them with a woman on its back. The woman jumped off the fox's back, landing near the Yondaime. "Please stop!"

Naruto's glare turned to her. "Who the hell are you?!" The woman has long reddish-orange hair light brown eyes and wore a black dress with a white sleeveless shirt underneath it.

"I'm his wife Kushina. You don't appear to be a demon, so why are you doing this?"

"He ruined my life! Twelve years of not knowing and when I finally did, having to wonder if maybe my parents abandoned me after what he did."

Kushina couldn't understand what he meant, but looked at the Yondaime when he tried to speak. "Na…ru…to… ple…ase… let me… expl…" Kushina's eyes widened.

Naruto added pressure to the grip. "I don't care!"

Kushina moved towards him slightly. "Naruto, please let him explain, I know he wouldn't do anything to harm you if he could avoid it."

Naruto looked into her eyes, looking for some form of deceit, but he found nothing but sadness. He growled in annoyance as he slowly loosened his hand and brought the yokai back to himself before forming a fist and hitting the ground, releasing the energy and creating a five-foot wide crater. 'Damn it! Why?! Why can't I do it?! Why do her words have any sway over me?!'

At the same time, Kushina was at the Yondaime's side. "Is that really him Minato?"

"It is, somehow Kyuubi brought him here before his body died."

Naruto was making his way over to them and sat down close to seven feet away. "You wanted to talk, then talk."

Minato took a deep breath. "I was hoping you would tell me more about your life first."

"Not much more to tell that what I've already said. Ojii-san made a law that no one could talk what the sealing or harm me, but it didn't stop them from shunning and make me an outcast even among kids my age. All but one of the teachers at the academy did everything they could to sabotage my progress, my crappy little apartment is broken into and robbed of anything valuable and the rest is trashed, was betrayed by a person I thought liked me, got a sensei who's perverted, always late, and plays favorites, given powers from a fallen angel, nearly killed twice on my first c-rank turned A-rank mission, had a seal placed over Kyuubi's by Hebi-teme, found another boy like me, knocked off a cliff by Ero-sennin so I would tap into Kyuubi's power to summon, fought Kyuubi and lost but I got a good hit in, and here I am."

Kushina looked a little lost and decided to ask. "I've got four questions. Who are the three you mentioned? Who's your sensei? What do you mean C-rank turned A-rank mission? And what do you mean given powers from a fallen angel?"

"Ojii-san is the Sandaime, Hebi-teme is Orochimaru, and Ero-sennin is Jiraiya. My sensei is Kakashi Hatake. Our client lied about the dangers we were going to face and we ended up fighting four missing-nins, Kakashi-sensei called the first two the Demon brothers, then Zabuza Momochi and his accomplice Haku. I now carry Zabuza's sword. Lastly for some unknown reason, two fallen angels gave powers to myself and my friend Hinata."

"**You mean girlfriend don't you kit?"**

"Oh that's right I did ask her out didn't I. Anyway, any other questions?"

Kushina was seething. 'That damn Jiraiya, I swear when I get my hands on him I'm going to…"** (I'll leave it to you to decide.)**

Minato gaze was at the ground. "You said you didn't know for twelve years, how did you find out?"

"I can't make normal Bunshin, this caused me to fail the genin exam three times. The third time the assistant teacher, Mizuki, came to me and said if I stole the Scroll of Sealing and learned a jutsu off it I would graduate. I wanted to pass so badly I ignored the sense that told me it was wrong. I snuck into the Hokage tower took the scroll and went into the forest to learn a jutsu. After a few hours the only teacher that ever helped me, Iruka, found me. He told me exactly what it was I took and I told him what I was told. Mizuki came tried to kill us both and take the scroll, but not before telling me why almost everyone hates me. I used Kage Bunshin to beat his ass into the ground and Iruka let me graduate. That's my life in a nutshell so it's your turn."

"My name's Minato Namikaze, and this is my wife Kushina. My sensei was Jiraiya and like him I was a seal master and toad summoner. Two of my students died in action, Obito Uchiha and Rin Inuzuka. My third student was Kakashi Hatake, who received his Sharingan from his dying best friend. I became the Yondaime at age twenty-two and gave my life to stop Kyuubi at age twenty-three, a little over fifteen months into my term. I created two jutsu, one only I could use, the Hiraishin, and the other only my sensei could master, the Rasengan."

Kushina started to speak here. "I originated from a small island country near Mizu no Kuni, called Uzu no Kuni. Mizu no Kuni attacked when I was about your age and killed my clan because they fought back, I escaped to Konoha and became a ninja."

Kyuubi began to laugh and all three turned to him. **"You both left out the best part, I smelt it on you then and I smell it now." **He could smell the fear coming from both adults, especially the man who had sealed him and his smile widened. **"Tell him or I will."**

Minato clenched his fists and gulped before speaking in a saddened tone. "Naruto, your parents didn't abandon you, well in a few ways I suppose your father did." Kushina didn't say anything, she just looked down at her hands in her lap. Naruto's fist was shaking and blood flowed between his fingers. "Your mother died shortly after giving birth to you and I had hoped to not to have to use the sealing jutsu, but we couldn't even slow Kyuubi down, so I sacrificed my life to save the village. I thought that they would view you as a hero for containing Kyuubi, but obviously I was wrong and I left my son in a hostile environment. Sarutobi had offered to do the sealing, but I felt it was my duty to as I was the active Hokage."

Naruto's hand was encased in yokai and it disappeared just as fast. 'What the hell?'

**'You cannot attack him, Shinigami-sama is watching.'**

'So, he didn't do anything before.'

**'If you destroy the soul he took as payment, he will take yours as a replacement.'**

Naruto stood up and walked away, he made it five steps before a pair of arms wrapped themselves around his arms. "Naruto, please wait. You may never be able to forgive your father for what he did, but you have to know he did it with good intensions."

Naruto kept his gaze away from her. "The road to hell is paved with good intensions. You should spend time with him while you can, the Shinigami will reclaim him when Kyuubi and I leave."

"But we want to spend time with you. You said it yourself, he's only here for a short time, this will probably be the only time you'll ever have to talk him. Would it really be so bad to get to know him, he is your father after all."

He turned around in her embrace. "I've been lied to my whole life by the one person I trust the most, a person I think of as family. I grew up wanting to be just like the Yondaime, a man I knew basically nothing about just because everyone said he was the best of the best. Then I find out he played quite a big part in making my life worse than hell, cause from what I've seen this place isn't so bad, and now I find out that he's my father, how am I supposed to trust him when the one person to care for me the longest lies to my face?"

Kushina's embrace tightened. "I know Sarutobi quite well, and he wouldn't with hold important information unless he truly believes you're better off not knowing yet. Now come, I'm sure we have much to talk about, like this girlfriend of yours." She pulled him over to Minato with a smile on her face. They spent what felt like hours talking, well it was mainly Kushina and Minato talking, but they were all smiling.

"So you got my name from a book Ero-sennin wrote, it wasn't from the Icha Icha was it?"

"Kami no, you really think I would let my son be named after one of _those_ characters?"

**"Kit we should leave soon, we don't know how much time has passed in your realm. You wouldn't want to miss the finals."**

"Alright Kyuubi." He turned back to his parents. "Looks like we're out of time, I'm glad I got to meet you both." He walked up to Kushina and wrapped his arms around her. "Thanks for not letting me walk away."

"Just be sure to give Jiraiya a whack for me."

His smile stretched for ear to ear. "You got it." He moved over to Minato and hugged him as well. "Dad, I'm sorry about what I said and did."

"Don't worry about it Naruto, I think anyone would have reacted the same. Now listen, Sarutobi's holding on to a scroll for you, he's suppose to give it to you when your ready for it, but given his age, get him to at least tell someone trustworthy where it is, can't have you not receive your inheritance."

Naruto nods and walks towards Kyuubi, changing into Manako's fox form as he does. 'Thanks again Manako, I look forward to working with you again.'

**'Sure thing, but don't bring me out if we've got as crappy odds as we did today.'**

'You got it.' "Alright Kyuubi, I'm ready." He took one last glance at his parents as Kyuubi opened the portal before everything went black after he felt a tail hit him.


	9. Chapter 9

When Naruto opened his eyes again, he found he was lying on his stomach a top one of the rock spikes that jutted out of the canyon walls, and the fox was nowhere in sight. 'Hey Kyuubi, you in there?'

**'Unfortunately. It seems that I can't remain out in your realm while you are unconscious like I could in Hell.'**

Naruto carefully stood up and looked towards the top of the massive wall of stone. 'That's going to be one hell of a climb, even if I could use chakra. I guess I'll have to summon you again Kyuubi.'

**'It won't work Kit, the rock you're standing on absorbs chakra, and because you're in contact with it, it will take any you try to use. The only way to use chakra now would be to take another dive into the canyon, which I don't recommend seeing as neither of us know how much further down it goes, you could very well become splatter before you get the chance to summon me.'**

'Then what do you propose I do? It's not like I can move through the earth like Kakashi-sensei did to take out Sasuke during the bell test.'

**'How the hell would you know what he did, you were hanging from a tree!'**

'Shadow clones are oh so useful.' With a sigh he started to climb, trying to stay over one of the large stone spikes. 'Sakura was taken out by a genjutsu that even I would have been able to get out of, and you know how crappy I am at genjutsu. Sensing one I can do, but getting out and using one, I don't stand much of a chance. I don't suppose you'd be willing to help me with that would you Kyuubi?'

**'What makes you think I'd be able to?'**

'Well, legends say that Kitsunes are known for their illusions, and I figured it might be true.'

**'I will admit that most of my brethren are masters of complex illusions, but I never put much stock into them. I'm able to sense and dispel them easily and can use them to a certain degree, but I find playing with fire much more enjoyable.'** Naruto tried to tune him out as much as possible as he continued to climb.

--

Jiraiya appeared in a swirl of leaves before Sarutobi. "Did you feel it?"

"Indeed, where ever he went, he's back. Find him before any Anbu who felt it too do."

In another swirl of leaves, Jiraiya was gone from the office, and was once again at the top of the canyon. He stretched out his sense and found Naruto chakra signature within the canyon still. "I'm coming gaki." He ran towards the edge and leapt away from the wall, facing down with his arms stretched out to the sides. When he sensed he was getting close to the origin of the chakra, he bought his hands to him and started forming seals after biting his thumb hard enough to cause it to bleed, all while gather a large amount of chakra. When the sequence was done, he pushed his hand downwards. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" Seconds after he called out the jutsu, he fell into a cloud of smoke.

Naruto was taking a rest of one of the many stone spikes when he heard Jiraiya's yell. He immediately looked up to see the large cloud of smoke, and to hear the sound of rock breaking free. All he saw was an reddish-orange webbed hand, or maybe it was a foot, before he had to take cover from the falling pieces of rock, but was still hit by a few of the bigger pieces, one to the back of his head knocking him out _again_. By now the smoke was completely cleared and there was a toad rivaling Kyuubi's size, with a scar over his left eye, wearing a blue coat, a pipe in its mouth and a short **(for him)** sword. **"Jiraiya, you had better have a good damn reason for summoning me it such a place."**

"I'll tell you later Gamabunta, right now, would you please grab the boy down there before he falls any further?" The toad's tongue wrapped around Naruto and lifted him up to his eye level, before unwrapping enough to see his face. Jiraiya saw his eyes widen slightly, as he placed Naruto on his head by the Sannin. "Looks just like him, doesn't he?"

**"Remarkably so. I assume he is the reason I was summoned in such a place, but why is he down here?"**

"It was nothing really, he just fell while I was training him."

**"Fell my ass, you probably pushed him like you did Minato to teach him to summon me. Come to think of it, this is the same place is it not?"**

'Damn I was hoping he wouldn't remember that.' Jiraiya laughed nervously. "I guess you're right. Actually I was doing the same for this gaki."

**"I don't recall any new names being added to my contract Jiraiya. What can he summon?"**

"To be honest, I don't know, at first I assumed he had signed either sensei's or Kakashi's, but now I know he hasn't signed either. I know he summoned something, but when he did, something happened and he disappeared, chakra and all, he only recently reappeared.

**"You dumb ass! You knocked him in here without having him attempt to summon before hand?!"**

"I know, but there's more I want to teach him before the month's over."

**"When we get to the top, take him to the hospital Jiraiya, he's lighter than someone his size should be. And you had better pray to Kami that Minato and Kushina don't know about this when you see them in the afterlife."** Jiraiya couldn't help but nod. When Gamabunta's head peaked over the rim of the canyon, Jiraiya picked up Naruto and jumped onto solid ground and took off towards Konoha, while the boss toad dismissed himself.

It was half an hour before he regained consciousness, but left his eyes closed due to the conversation being had. "I've never seen anything like this in a human before sir, his bones are hollow and have become thinner, but have gained a honeycomb like structure and become almost as hard as steel. The closest comparison to this is that of a bird's skeletal structure. In theory, he very well may be able to use his wings to fly like a bird. We'll need to run more test and keep him here for study."

"Absolutely not! I won't let him get turned into someone's damn experiment!"

"Calm down Jiraiya, I have no intension of letting that happen." Naruto had to force back a smile when he heard the Sandaime's voice.

"But sir, we could be looking at a new possible Kekkei Genkai that could change the very way battles are fought!"

"My decision is final. Thank you for your help, but it is no longer needed."

He heard what he presumed were the doctor's footsteps, followed by a door closing. "Alright gaki, you can stop playing possum." Naruto slowly opened his eyes to avoid the blinding light that hospitals had over the beds. "You mind telling us what happened?"

"Who else knows?"

"What happened at the canyon, only sensei, you, and me. Or do you mean the reforming of your bone structure, if you do it's just us and the doctor for now, but it will probably reach the ears of the council before long."

"Neither, who else knows who my parents were?"

The Sandaime looked shocked by the question, before his eyes showed great sadness. "I'm sorry Naruto, but I've told you before I don't…"

"You can cut the bullshit, I already know. Hell, I've met them, we had a nice long chat."

"Alright gaki, if you're so confident, you won't mind telling us who they were." Through neither would expect it of him, he could tell that Sarutobi was in the middle of put a sound barrier in place, and waited to respond. "Well gaki?" Naruto sensed the chakra lining the walls and continued waiting for it to finish. Jiraiya took his silence as him admitting defeat, and he snorted. "I knew you were just grasping at straws."

He stood up and headed for the window, and as he reached it, the chakra completely covered the room. "Minato Namikaze, the Yondaime Hokage, and Kushina Uzumaki." Jiraiya stopped in his tracks. "They named me after a character in one of your books. I'm more or less and carbon copy of him, and she had long red hair and light brown eyes. He was taught by you and taught Obito Uchiha, Rin Inuzuka, and Kakashi Hatake, and he taught you Rasengan. Does that give you enough proof, cause I could keep going."

Both adults were speechless, buy Jiraiya was the first to recover. "Why didn't you answer before if you knew."

Naruto looked over at the Sandaime. "He was putting up a sound barrier, meaning not many people know, so I waited till it was up. Now, who all knows?"

"Well, there's us obviously, my teammate Tsunade, Hiashi Hyuga, who was Minato's best…"

"Best friend and best man at the wedding despite their rivalry, he told me."

"Right, moving on, his teammates Ibiki Morino and Mikoto Uchiha, who is now deceased, and then there's sensei's old teammates, Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane. So now will you tell us what happened and how you met them since they're both dead?"

Pushing this new information to the back of his mind for later, he let out a sigh. "Not much, I summoned the boss of my contract, and got taken to Hell so I could have a match against him without being interrupted. Now, the reason I met dad was because my summons made a deal with the Shinigami, which was that if Kyuubi were to ever return to Hell before my name showed up on his list that he release dad's soul into Hell as long as Kyuubi remained, if not, then when I died Kyuubi would be turned over to the Shinigami and I would gain all of his power. They also found mom and brought her."

"How could your summons take you to Hell, and how could they possibly make that kind of decision about Kyuubi's power?"

"They follow his command, he's the boss summon after all, but they didn't actually take me, as my body stayed where it was while my mind and soul were out, and I don't know how he took me to Hell, but it is his… well home is a bit of a stretch, but it's the closest word that can describe it."

"Wait, wait, wait, you signed a contract for demon foxes? And Kyuubi is the boss summon?"

Naruto was quiet for a moment before he nodded. "Yeah. He offered to help me out if I signed his contract so he could have a small amount of freedom now and then. It's not like he can hurt anyone I don't want him to, or I could send him back, and if I'm knocked out, he goes poof. And it's a good bet that I'll need his help in the finals." 'Not the whole truth, but it's not a lie either.'

For the first time since the barrier went up, Sarutobi spoke. "I'll admit that there are some strong opponents in the finals, but none that should require that kind of power, unless there's something you know that we don't."

Naruto let out another sigh. "Gaara from Suna is like me, we believe he holds Shukaku, the Ichibi, and master of wind, but he's also a sand spirit. Kyuubi says that it's unlikely he'll fight me, since he knows I have Kyuubi, but I'm not so sure about Gaara, and I don't know what kinds of tricks he'll pull if I do face him."

"You mean when gaki, if he's a Jinchuuriki like you say, the Uchiha boy won't stay a chance, and should be pulled from the match."

Naruto snorted. "Good luck telling him that. Between his Sharingan and that mark on his neck that gives him a power boost I doubt he'll believe you."

Jiraiya's eyes narrowed. "What's this mark look like?"

"Don't know what it normally looks like, but in the forest it spread across his face and down his arm in a flame like pattern, the thing appeared after Orochimaru bit him, or at least that's what Sakura said. The only other thing I know is that Kakashi-sensei said at the preliminaries that 'the seal works with your will to suppress the curse seal.'"

Jiraiya rounded on Sarutobi. "You let him continue, knowing he had a curse seal?"

"Kakashi had sealed it, I saw no reason he couldn't continue. I far as I'm aware, the only time its power has manifested was in the forest, where it was quickly taken care of by Naruto with the help of a few other genin. I trust his ability to create the suppression seal as he was there when you used it before."

"Copying the design with the Sharingan and making it so it's effective are two entirely different things!"

"Then you can inspect the suppression seal when he returns to the village, at the moment he's away with Kakashi." Neither of them realized that Naruto had gotten out of the bed and was just swinging his cloak over his wings and shoulders. "Now Naruto…" They both turned to the bed to find him missing.

"Yeah?" He was behind them with his back turned, but they could hear him clasping his cloak shut.

"You do realize how the villagers will react to you being able to summon foxes, don't you?"

"Yes and I don't care, I've had enough of worrying what they think of me. By the way Ojii-san, I was wondering if I could get the scroll dad left with you, if not, he told me to have you at least tell someone trustworthy where it was due to your age."

"I was hoping to wait till after the exam, but if you're right about the Suna boy, you could use all the help you can get. I get it to you tomorrow, but out of curiosity, who won the fight?"

"It's not like I stood a chance, but I got a good shot in on him, not enough to really hurt him, but he said it was better than the villages attempts to stop him." He turned to leave, but stopped and turned to Jiraiya. "Oh, and before I forget, there was something mom wanted me to give you Jiraiya." That was enough to get the Gama Sannin worried, he never called him Jiraiya before, so cautiously he moved towards the blonde, who was finding it hard not the have an evil smile on his face. When Jiraiya got within arm's length, he had a brief moment where he felt Naruto build up chakra before he was sent flying across the room. "If it weren't for the fact that I got to meet my parents, I would have sent you farther Ero-sennin. Well, I'll see you tomorrow."

He waved as he walked out of the room. Once the door closed, Jiraiya got to his feet. "Damn gaki, he may look like Minato, but he acts like his mother." 'I just hope he didn't tell them about today.'

As if reading his mind, Naruto's head popped back into the room through a slightly ajar door. "By the way, they both got a brief summary of everything and don't blame you for anything, except for you knocking me off the cliff Ero-sennin. How long was I gone anyway?"

"About nine hours give or take. And gaki, be sure to be on time tomorrow, or you'll be on your own."

Naruto nodded and disappeared out of the doorway. He quickly left the hospital and started towards the Hyuga Clan compound. All along the way, he was met with stares, which he was quite use to, but the comments he heard were new, through he had expected something like them. "Did you hear, the demon brat grew wings, I heard they were like those of a bat."

"I heard they were scaly, like the devil's wings, or a dragon's."

"My son saw them, he said they were black with feathers, like a bird's or an angel's."

"Yeah right, that _thing_ having the wings of an angel? If it's an angel, then Iwa is a country of peace lovers."

Naruto tuned them out as he continued forwards, though as he got closer to the compound, he started to feel like he was being followed, and within his cloak, he unrolled the scroll that held his sword. With a small amount of chakra, it poof out of the scroll and he turned completely around, bring the covered sword blade to the neck of the one following him. He looked into the black sunglasses that stared at him over the high collar as he removed the sword and strapped it to his back. "Sorry Shino, I'm just a bit edgy after last night."

"Understandable. Kiba told me about Gaara, however you're explanations seemed strange."

"What do you mean?"

"Judging by what I witnessed in the forest, he doesn't seem the kind to fall for such a simple trick, nor did he seem the least bit worried when attack, which leads me to believe he is either exceptional at close range fighting, or has some other reason that he does not have a need to worry. He also seemed to enjoy the thought of fighting and even killing, if I'm correct in this observation, your ability to survive his seemingly only required attack should have provoked him to become more serious in his attempts, which leads me to believe there is something about you yourself that he fears. It is my assumption that whatever it is, it is for that same reason that my bugs are hesitant to approach you, however this is all just mere speculation."

Naruto was quiet for a minute, thinking over everything that was said, and trying to find a way out of this situation without causing the young bug user to getting suspicious. "Now that I think about it, his actions didn't really make sense to me either. I did tell Kiba that was probably why he left, but the only one that really knows why is Gaara himself. At the time though, I made the assumption based off of what I had just seen, which I suppose was pretty stupid considering Kakashi-sensei is always telling us to 'look underneath the underneath'. I'll have to watch out for him during the finals."

"You don't believe your teammate will win?"

"Neither Sasuke or I have seen him fight, but I saw the aftermath of the one in the forest. Though because I don't know what kind of training Sasuke's going through, I can't say one way or the other, but I do know that before we started these exams, he wouldn't have stood a chance."

"May I ask you two more questions?" Naruto nodded with a smile. "Why is it you were at the bottom of the class only a few months ago and are able to analyze someone's skills to such a degree now?"

"I've been able to do that since I was little. Living on your own you have to be able to determine how much of a threat people pose since you have no one to watch out for you, and because of that you're an easy target for harassment. Sasuke on the other hand, had something that everyone respected, so he had people lining up to help him. But back to your question, I'm able to analyze and adapt to just about any situation, but in the academy, I put most of that ability into my pranks, and not enough into my bookwork."

Shino nodded slightly. "My second question is, why is it that you were never 'freaked out' about my bugs in the academy?"

Naruto's smile widened. "I'll admit at first I found it a bit creepy that they lived inside of you, but then I realized how useful they are. I mean, they can gather information, track, and they drain chakra. Only some overly paranoid target, or people who's afraid of bugs are going to keep checking themselves for them while traveling through the forest, and they're so small it makes a single one hard to see. The only problem that I see is that since they feed on your chakra, when they're not feeding on someone else's, the level of jutsu you can use is limited to maybe low c-rank or lower depending on each individual person's chakra reserves."

"You are correct, and it is for that reason that my clan has created jutsu that utilize the bugs we house, while using the least amount of chakra we can. I very much enjoyed this conversation, and hope to have others in the future, good luck at the finals."

"To you as well Shino." Shino head back towards the village while Naruto continued on his way.

The sky had taken an orange color very similar to the color of his old jumpsuit by the time he reached the Hyuga Clan's front gate, where two guards were stationed. Even from a distance, he could tell one of them was glaring at him, while the other looked like she could careless. The male of the two stepped in front of him, in a stance somewhere between standing and the ready position for Juken. "Halt, what business do _you_ have here?"

"I came to see Hinata, is she here?"

"No, now leave!"

The female of the two stepped forward and placed a hand on the male's shoulder. "That's enough Myou." The man, now known as Myou, snorted and walked away from the two of them. "I'm sorry about him. Unfortunately, hate, anger, and pain die hard."

"I know. Do you know where Hinata went, there's something I need to talk to her about."

"I'm sorry, but I don't. She left this morning for training with her team and hasn't returned yet, through that is a normal occurrence."

"I see, well thank you anyway."

He turned to walk away, but turned back when he heard her voice. "Uzumaki, if you should find her, would you kindly remind her to be back on time tonight? Her father was upset with her late return last night."

"I will. Thank you again." After leaving, he started toward Ichiraku's Ramen. 'She did ask if we could meet for lunch, I just hope she hasn't been sitting there since then waiting for me to come.' When he arrived, he was both happy and disappointed to find she wasn't there, while he was happy she hadn't waited for him there since lunch, he really wanted to see her. He sighed. "Oh well, since I'm here, I might as well have a few bowls before I start looking again."

He heard a giggling behind him as the flaps to the stand were pushed aside. "You only having a few bowls would be like Choji refusing another helping of barbecue pork."

He turned around with a giant smile on his face. "Just the person I was looking for. Sorry about missing lunch."

She sat down beside him. "It's alright, you did say you might not be able to make it after all, but you know, if you're looking for someone, a ramen stand probably isn't the best place to look."

"If they were looking for me it would be. I learned something really interesting today, well actually a couple of things that I want to tell you about, it's about what I said last night."

"Okay, so do you want to head to the training grounds after we eat?"

"Nah, I have a better place in mind, but first the ramen." He turned to Ayame, who was patiently waiting. "Hey Ayame, could we get four bowls to go, two miso, one beef, and one of whatever Hinata wants.

"A chicken please."

"Alright, but dad's not going to be very happy that it's to go, we haven't seen you in a few days after all."

"I know, but I'm in the Chunin exams, and training for the finals. I'll try to stop by more often, but I can't promise anything, Ero-sennin is a slave driver." After getting their ramen, they left the stand with Naruto leading her away.


	10. Chapter 10

Naruto led Hinata to the top of the Hokage Monument, and out on to the craving of the Yondaime's head, where they sat down. "It's so beautiful Naruto."

"I couldn't agree more. This is where I would come to when I needed a place to get away from everything. When I'm up here nothing else seems to matter."

They watched the sun sink lower in the skin as they ate they ramen and sat in comfortable silence for some time afterwards, until Hinata broke it. "Hey Naruto, what was it you wanted to talk about?"

"Do you trust me?"

She was taken aback by his question, but answered without hesitation. "Absolutely."

He smiled and held out his hand and she took it. "Don't let go." Their vision went black and the sounds of the world went quiet before being replaced with a brick tunnel and the sound of dripping. Naruto looked at Hinata and saw she was glowing with a white light. Without warning, the light shot from her body and down the tunnel before vanishing from sight. "That was strange, even for here."

"Where is here, and what was that?"

"Honestly, I don't know what that was, it's never happened before. Of course I've never brought anyone else into my head before." She looked at him as though he was crazy. "I know that sounds crazy, but it's the truth. During my mission to Nami, I found myself here where I met Kyuubi face to face, sort of. Since then I've been able to come and go as I please, and at one point was able to bring a scroll he gave me into the outside world, so I figured I'd be able to bring something, or in this case someone, in."

"Why didn't you just tell me that?"

"What would you have done if I had? I highly doubt you'd be all for it. Hell, if we were in opposite positions, I'd knock you out and take you to Ojii-san for a psychiatric evaluation, and believe me they're not fun. I've had one once every two years since I was five, never understood why till I found out about Kyuubi, then it kind of made sense."

"Why did you bring me here?"

"Well, like I said earlier, I learned some really interesting things today, most of which I don't want other people to hear, cause they'll think I'm either crazy, or they'll say it's proof I'm a demon. But before all that, I'll introduce you to Kyuubi and see if he knows what that light was." Through out it all, he had yet to let go of her hand and started leading her down the memorize path to Kyuubi's cell.

He stopped about half way into the room before the gate. **"You brought me a snack, how nice of you Kit."**

Hinata squeezed his hand and he turned to her with a reassuring smile before looking back at the fox. "You eat her and we're all dead. She's the one who also received power from the fallen angels."

Kyuubi's eyes suddenly appeared behind the bars. **"Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the king of all idiots for doing the ****single**** most idiotic thing in the history of idiocy! The power that was in her is now here. If she returns to her body before taking it back into herself, you will be ripped apart. There is a reason that she has the power to kill you and visa versa, they are at odds with each other, no one person can control both."**

"That explains the light from before I guess. So Kyuubi, do you know where it went?"

"**More than likely, it went searching for yours so they can destroy each other."** He saw Naruto open his mouth again and sighed. **"Out the door to the right, take a left, two rights, another left, and it straight ahead. You know you should come here for more than when you need something from me, if you did, you would know these things already Kit."**

"What other reason do I have to come here?" He turns to Hinata with a smile. "I guess we'll have to talk after we deal with those two."

They quickly made their way to the room Kyuubi had spoke of, all the while the sounds of fighting grew louder. When they entered the room, they found two humanoid beings, one of pure light and the other of darkness. Naruto raised his hand as the two charged each other, and a barrier of blue light appeared between them. They both turned to them as he slowly closed his hand and then quickly opened it completely. Both beings were thrown to opposite side of the room from him and held against the wall by an unseen force. "Was that really necessary Naruto?"

"If I had just dropped the wall, they would have just started fighting again, but I guess I may have over done it a bit." He turned his full attention to the two against the wall. "I'm going to let you both down, and you will not attack one another, or you will again find yourselves where you are now." He lowered his hand to his side, the two dropped to the ground, landing on their feet, and started towards Naruto and Hinata. When they reached Naruto and Hinata, both beings stopped, and stayed silent. After a few minutes Naruto sighed. "Listen, I'm sorry about how I reacted, it's a problem of mine to act without really thinking." He stuck out his hand. "Will you accept my apology?" The dark being nodded and grasped his hand. Almost as soon as it had, it became a dark mist that flowed into Naruto's eyes.

He rubbed his eyes furiously several times before opening them, the sight caused Hinata to gasp. His eyes were the same deep blue they had always been, but the scleras were now black. Hinata figured out what needed to be done and she turned to the light being. "Will you help me protect those I love?" The being gave a curt nod and wrapped Hinata in a hug. Both were enveloped in a bright light, so bright Naruto had to shield his eyes. When the light dim and then disappeared, only Hinata remained and Naruto saw that the once hidden pupil of the Byakugan was now pure white. She turned to him with a smile. "Well, I guess we should head back and get to what we came here for." Naruto couldn't help but smile back and wrapped his arm around her, causing her to blush, before starting the walk back. 'This would be romantic if we weren't in a sewer.' She had a look of confusion when she thought that. "Naruto, why is your mind a sewer?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. It was like this the first time I came here. I plan on changing it, but since I'm not the one who has to be here twenty-four seven, I'm going to let Kyuubi decide how it looks. I figured it's the least I can do, I mean it's because of him I got to meet my parents, even if it was only for a short time."

"You met them? When? Where? What are they like? When can I meet them?" Naruto had an amused smile as she continued asked questions and then her cheeks turn a light pink. "Sorry, I guess I got carried away."

"It's fine Hinata, it was one of the thing I wanted to tell you. Though it would be easier to show you if could I find where my memories are kept." As soon as the words left his mouth, a door popped into existence in the wall in front of them with the word 'Memories' craved into it. "That was convenient." He opened the door and found it to be another long tunnel with its walls lined with shelves upon which rested palm-sized orbs that glowed a color shade between white and black. "I going to guess that the lighter orbs are pleasant and the darker they get the more unpleasant they become."

Hinata stood a little ways down the hall staring at a single orb. "What's this memory? The orbs solid gray."

Naruto walked over and placed his hand against it as if he were going to pick it up, but stop, his eyes glazed over. When he removed his hand, his eyes went back to normal. "It's the final battle from my mission in Nami no Kuni. That day I fought a boy named Haku, who was a lot like me, left alone at a young age and hated for something out of his control. Zabuza found him and became dear to him, and Haku would do anything for him. Zabuza was hired to kill our client. In the end Haku gave his life to protect his precious person, who slaughtered his employer and most of his army of thugs for insulting Haku. After he died, I couldn't help but think that if he and I had met under different circumstances we might have become friends." He walked back towards the door, touching a few orbs here and there till after five tries, he moved back towards her and smiled have touching another orb. "I found it. It shows how, where, and why I met them. Just so you're not surprised, you'll hear my thoughts at the time and be seeing through point of view. You'll also feel what I did, but to a much smaller extent. You may be a little confused at first, but it mostly explains itself as it continues, anything else you can ask me afterwards."

Hinata walked over to him and looked at the orb, it was lighter than the first orb she was entranced by, but still gray in color. She looked over at him and he hadn't taken his eyes off the orb. "Are you sure you want me to see this one, and not the one back there that's glowing white?" He looked deeper into the hall and saw a brightly glowing orb a few down from the battle on the bridge. "It seems kind of dark for a meeting with your parents."

"I'm sure. The reason it's not pure white is because it's not one of my prouder moments and everything else it contains, but don't worry I'll be sure to let you see what that one is later." She looked nervous as she slowly reached out her hand. Just before she made contact, she glanced over at Naruto, who had a reassuring smile on his face, and then placed her hand against it. **(I'm not writing it again, so if you want to reread it go to chapter 8.)** After her eyes glazed over he turned back to the orb she pointed out. 'I wonder if that's what I think it is.' He touch it and pulled back a few seconds later with a slight blush on his cheeks. 'Yep.' He went back to Hinata's side when he saw that her hand was still connected to the orb and that she had tears running down her cheeks. 'I wonder how far she's gotten.' She suddenly ripped her hand away and would have fallen over if he had not been there to catch her. Her tears redoubled as she looked up into his concerned face.

"You really thought they abandoned you?"

"The night I found out about Kyuubi, I asked Ojii-san why he never told me, he said it was to protect me. That night I couldn't sleep because I was thinking about every question he had ever told me he didn't know the answer to and if there was a reason he had said that. When I came to my most asked question after why everyone hated me, who were my parents, I couldn't think of any reason why he wouldn't tell me about them. At least until I remember the reason he gave about Kyuubi and that got me to thinking 'How could he be protecting me by not telling me who they are?' That was when it hit me, as with Kyuubi, he wasn't protecting me from an outside threat, but from emotional pain, meaning either they died during Kyuubi's attack, or they were like everyone else and saw me as Kyuubi. Being only hours after learning the truth about Kyuubi, I thought that if it had been that they died, he would have told me when I first took the graduation test, when I could understand and accept their deaths, so that lead me to believe they saw me as a demon and left me once they knew what I contained. At one point I actually found myself hoping they were dead because it hurt less to think about." He placed his hand against her cheek as her tears continued full force and used his thumb to wipe them away. "Please don't cry Tenshi, you're always beautiful, but you're prettier when you smile."

She smiled, blushed dark red, and stood up from his arms. "You told them I was your girlfriend."

He chuckled. "Well it was actually Kyuubi, but I agreed with him, so kind of. But putting that aside for the moment, that memory showed almost everything I wanted to talk to you about, my summon animals, and my parents, the bit about my life was extra. One of the other things is something I learned while lying in a hospital bed, apparently, my bone structure has changed to something similar to a bird's, except they're almost as strong as steel, making it so I could probably fly using my wings. It's more than likely that this has also happened to you, but to know for sure you'd have to reveal your wings as well. The final thing I'd like to talk to you about before we go back to the subject of relationships, I'd like to know if you'd help me prepare to fight Neji and train with me to learn how to use our new abilities. I've already have some idea we could both use if they work, and I could probably think of some things for each of our different powers once I see what they're like."

She looked downtrodden as he continued to talk, especially when he mentioned Neji. "I won't be much help, Neji's better than I am at fighting. Me helping you train would only get in the way of your training with Jiraiya-sama."

"I don't know about that." She turned to his voice, which was a little ways down the hall. In his hand was the orb of white she had noticed. "Catch." He tossed it and it fell into her hands. Hinata froze for a moment, then her face turned a new shade of red and she dropped the orb. "Neji may beat you in speed, but flexibility can make up for it, the only things holding you back during the preliminaries, were lack of confidence, a problem you've already solved, and the other I'm guessing is because he's family, so you didn't want to hurt him."

Hinata didn't look as though she was listening, as her eyes had a vacant look and her face had yet to return to it normal color. "Naruto, that night, was that all you really saw?"

He picked up the orb and returned it to the shelf. "Yeah, I left shortly after because of the pain I felt in my back from my wings growing. Why?"

Hinata's face started to lighten. "No reason." 'If he had picked any other angle, he would have seen me naked!'

He turned back to her with a big knowing smile. "Uh huh, so will you help me?"

"Are you sure you'll be able to both train with me and Jiraiya-sama?"

"That's the great thing about Kage Bunshin, I can leave them with either of you if I have to, and still learn from both of you. Though I do prefer learning to do things myself over that method because it's too similar to what Sasuke does with his Sharingan for my tastes."

"Well since you're sure, I will. When and where?

"He didn't really say, so I'd guess the same as this morning, which was eight at Training Grounds 7. Just to warn you through, don't drop the genjutsu around him very often, because he may try to get you to model for his next book."

"What wrong with that?"

"He writes the Icha Icha series." A light shade red found its way on to Hinata's face, along with a small smile. "He even calls himself a super pervert. Even though I'm almost positive of the answer, Hinata will you be my girlfriend?"

Her smile grew. "The way you said that made it sound like you were going to ask something else."

"Well, I heard somebody ask a similar question like that so I figured it'd work for this to. I can't help but notice though, that you haven't answer my ques…" His statement was cut short due to Hinata's lips pressing against his as her arms wrapped around his neck. He was surprised at first, but soon started kissing back and wrapped his arms around her waist. When she pulled away they were both breathless, but had smiles on their faces. "Is that a yes?"

"That's a pretty stupid question, but yes. I don't know how my father will react though, he's never shown any outward hatred for you, but neither do the branch members towards the main branch."

Naruto's smile never faded. "You didn't watch the whole memory did you?" Hinata shook her head no and he chuckled lightly. "Our fathers were best friends, and if he thought I was Kyuubi it would only take one look at my chakra coils to know different. The only reason I think he'd have a problem with it is because he doesn't like the fact his little girl wants to date." He lightly kissed her before pulling back. "We should get going, it was getting dark when we came here, and I wouldn't want you to get in trouble because of me." She nodded and their surroundings were shrouded in darkness, before he found themselves back on top of the Yondaime's head, standing as they had been in the mindscape, and each noticed that the other's eyes hadn't returned to how they originally looked.

Hinata looked out across Konoha and saw that the sun had yet to completely sink behind the trees on the horizon. "We had to have been gone for a half hour at least, but everything looks like we were only gone a few minutes."

"I was confused when I first noticed too. According to Kyuubi it's because the mind thinks faster than the body can move, who knows if that's true or not, but I think I'll take his word for it." They let go of each other, and started down the monument. "Want me to walk you home?"

"I'd like that." She leaned closer to him and laid her head on his shoulder, he smiled and put his arm around her waist as they continued to walk. When they reached the Hyuga compound, they found Neji standing there once again. "Good evening Neji-nii-san. Did Tou-san send you because I'm late returning again?"

"No, you've returned early, however he did ask me to escort both of you to his study should you be accompanied by Uzumaki again. This way." Neji lead the couple through the wind hallways to the Clan House, and neither had moved from the positions they had while walking, which gained them several curious glances from the Hyuga they passed. Neji finally stopped in front of a dark wooden door. "Hiashi-sama is inside. I bid you good night Hinata-sama." Without waiting for a reply, Neji walked away, and the couple walked into the study.

Inside, Hiashi sat behind his desk looking over some piece of paper. Hinata bowed her head towards him, unwilling to let go of Naruto. "Good evening Tou-san. Neji-nii-san said you wanted t see us?"

He didn't look away from the paper. "Indeed. I'm glad to see you've return on time tonight, though I can forgive last night as the foreign genin attacked your teammate." He finally looked away fro the paper and his eyes narrowed when he saw how they were standing. "When were you going to tell me you were dating Otome?"

"Our first date was last night, but it got interrupted when Kiba was attacked Hiashi-sama."

"You seem quite comfortable with each other for only one, possibly two dates Uzumaki-san."

"Tou-san, the reason we are comfortable with each other is because we don't keep secrets from each other."

Hiashi's eyes didn't leave Naruto, who was fidgeting under his gaze. "I doubt that."

"I told her of Kyuubi before I asked her out. I also told her who my parents were after I found out who they were, and I know you were the best man at their wedding."

"You weren't suppose to know till you turned eighteen, or became a jonin. So which one was it that told you, Jiraiya-sama or Sandaime-sama?"

"Neither actually, I got to meet them." Hiashi had a pissed off look on his face and opened his mouth, but was cut off by Naruto. "I know it sounds impossible since thy are dead, but I signed a contract with Kyuubi to summon kitsune. However for them to listen to me, I had to show them my strength by fighting the strongest summon, Kyuubi himself. Now as you can imagine, fighting him here would have been a very stupid thing to do, so he took me to hell, and before you ask, I don't know how he did it. Anyway, we fought. I got a good hit in, but ultimately lost, not that I had a chance of winning, after fighting, Kyuubi said his kin had a surprise for me. Turns out they made a deal with the Shinigami that if Kyuubi returned to hell before my name appeared on his list he'd release Tou-san for as long as Kyuubi remained there. Somehow, they also tracked down Kaa-san and brought her along. I tried to crush Tou-san because of what he did, and probably would have had she not stopped me. After introductions, Kyuubi said something about their scents and told them to tell me or he would. They told me they were my parents and I would have walked away if Kaa-san hadn't stopped me again. She convinced me to stay and we talked for a few hours before I had to come back."

"Does the Hokage know of this? Is the demon still sealed? Have you touched my daughter?"

"Yes to the first, yes to the second, and yes to the third, but only as much as we are now."

"Otome, I would like to speak with him alone for a moment." She looked at Naruto, who smiled, before letting go of him and leaving the room. Hiashi waited till the door was closed before talking again. "First off I would like to say thank you for protecting my daughter during the preliminaries, I may not always show it, but I do care about the well beings of my daughters. That being said, if you hurt her or do anything inappropriate, I will make sure that neither the Byakugan, nor the Inuzuka clan's dogs ever find your body. That's all, I'm sure Hinata will show you out."

"I would never dream of it. Have a nice evening Hiashi-sama." Outside the study, he found Hinata standing against the wall beside the door, staring off down the hall. "See anything interesting?"

A small graced her lips, but she didn't turn her head towards him. "Not really. So, what was so important he couldn't say it in of me?"

He just shrugged. "What every father would say to their daughter's new boyfriend I imagine, don't do anything inappropriate or hurt her or I'll kill you. Personally, if I ever have a daughter, I have something that I think will be much more effective."

Hinata gave him a curious glance with a smile. "Care to share so Tou-san can use it for Hanabi?"

"She's what, six maybe seven? Maybe when she's a bit older."

Her smile grew wider. "You haven't got a clue what you'd say if some boy asked your daughter out do you?"

A sweat drop rolled down Naruto's head. "Not really no, but I'll think of something, I always do."

Hinata couldn't help but giggle. "Want me to walk you out?"

"That be great, I don't remember how to get out." He started rubbing the back of his head with a sheepish smile. Hinata just shook her head, her smile still in place, and grabbed hold of his hand before leading him down the hall.

Back in his office, Hiashi had a smile on his face as he watched the couple with his Byakugan. 'Minato, Kushina, it's hard to believe how much like the both of you your son is.' His smile widened as he reached in to his desk draw to pull out a small orange book. 'Now back to my reading.'

--

The next morning found Naruto and Hinata sitting against the middle training post of Training Grounds 7, his arm around her shoulders, while her head rested on his. "Way to go Gaki, you sure picked a cutie! But what's she dong here, and why's she using genjutsu?"

"Jiraiya, this is Hinata. Hinata, Jiraiya." Jiraiya stiffened, and Naruto noticed it. "What your problem?"

"Look, I know what I did yesterday was stupid, but you're cannot still be angry at me about that."

"What are you talking about? I'm not angry."

"Never mind." 'I'll take it over being called Ero-sennin any day.'

"Whatever. Anyway, I asked her to help me prepare me to fight Neji."

"That's a lot to cover, even with the month you have before the finals. However sensei's told me that you're capable of creating Kage Bunshin at a unheard of level, which makes me wonder if you know the secret of them."

"They pass information to the original when they disappear."

"That's right, now before we begin, I think we should move to a more secluded spot, I happen to know of one a little ways into the woods."

"Fine, but you should know, I told her everything, so you don't have to dance around certain subjects."

"Well that makes things easier, now come on, we have training to do." Jiraiya led them to a clearing big enough to fit a small house in it, and they could hear a waterfall not far off. "Okay Gakis this is the place, but before we start, I have some things to ask. First, why is Hinata using genjutsu?"

Hinata dropped the genjutsu, and Jiraiya would have been drooling at the sight of her, if his attention weren't on the two snow-white wings that appeared on her back. " You remember what that doctor said yesterday about this being a new Kekkei Genkai, well it's not. At least I don't think so, I guess we won't know till one of us have a child, or both of us." Hinata blushed, but smiled. "We were given power by two being that kill both angels ad demons, Kyuubi called the fallen angels. Why they did is a mystery, but I do know that last night, we made it a part of ourselves completely. The wings are just the most noticeable change, but our eyes have change slightly also. She had a easier time hiding them because she has a talent with genjutsu, me… I'm lucky I can get Henge to work."

"Okay, my next question is why do you want to learn sealing Naruto?"

"Aside from the fact that if used correctly, it could be as useful as any other skill, I made a promise to Kyuubi to give him a bit more freedom."

"How so?"

"Letting him use my sense to experience the outside world, through I have to learn to cook because he doesn't like ramen as much as I do."

Hinata giggled. "Naruto, not even Choji likes ramen as much as you do."

"Okay than, that's all I wanted to know, so let's get started. Naruto I want you to make 25 clones." Naruto nodded and performed the jutsu, while Jiraiya made two of his own. "Good, now ten of them will work on anything that you want them to. Three will go with one of my clones to learn about sealing. One will read the scroll your father left you, and ten more will stay with me to work on a few jutsu."

"And what are the two of them going to do?" Naruto pointed at his last clone and Jiraiya's.

"Oh them, well sensei told me about a jutsu you know, he called it a Kage Killer, so I was going to have your clone show it to mine."

Naruto rolled his eyes as he and Hinata turned to leave with ten of the clones. "Whatever Ero-sennin" Jiraiya grumbled something as he threw a scroll to one of the clones and his two left with their charges.

--

Naruto stood in the center of the large arena, five of the other finalists stood in a line beside him, the two missing were Sasuke and Gaara. He noticed that Temari looked worried and slight anxious, but wasn't sure if it was because of Gaara's absence, or just from the exam. He shrugged it off and glanced around the arena in a way that anyone watching would think it was a curious look at the field, but he was looking to see if everything was in place and smiled when he saw it was. 'Now all he has to do is show up.' He looked up into the crowd and saw the other four of the Rookie Nine and both of Neji's teammates sitting together with their senseis not far off, except Kakashi. 'Course not, why would he be here? He'll show up last minute with Sasuke in some big flashy entrance.'

A man wearing a jonin vest, with his headband in a bandana over his brown hair and a senbon in his mouth walked up to them. "My name's Genma, I'm the proctor. Now listen, the rules are the same as the preliminaries, so if I say stop, you stop understand?" They all nodded. "Good, then let's get this show on the road. First match Naruto Uzumaki vs. Neji Hyuga. All non-combatants please head to the viewing box." Neji and Naruto stood across from each other, Neji glaring and Naruto smiling. "First match begin!"

Neither moved, but Neji glare increased. "I would give you a chance to give up now, seeing as how it's your destiny to lose to me, but I know you will not."

"Damn right." Naruto threw off his cloak, revealing a black muscle shirt with a piece cut out on the back, and no wings. The cloak itself never hit the ground, instead it was lifted up to the stands, where Hinata grabbed it while shaking her head.

'He just couldn't resist showing off could he?'

**Flashback: Three days into training:**

"Naruto, Hinata come over here for a second."

"What's up Jiraiya-sensei?"

Jiraiya didn't answer right away as he looked at Naruto, before he mentally shook himself. 'That brings back a lot of memories.' He took out two square pieces of paper and handed one to each of them. "Focus chakra into these, they'll tell you what affinity you have."

"Um Jiraiya-sama, why am I doing this? I'm just helping Naruto get a feel for fight against Juken."

"Well Hinata, since Naruto taught you Kage Bunshin, I thought I could teach you a few jutsu as well. Now hurry up so I know what kind of jutsu to teach." They both took the cards and pushed chakra into them. Naruto's cut into four pieces and one piece crumpled, while Hinata's only got wet. "Well, Naruto, you've got a strong affinity for wind, and a budding one for lightning. Hinata, you have a strong affinity for water. Now that I know, I going to let you know right now that I only have a few for water and wind, and absolutely none for lightning. I use mainly fire and earth jutsu, but I'll teach you what I can, which includes how to manipulate your elemental chakra in its natural form, so make some clones and we'll get started."

**Flashback End:**

The veins around Neji's eyes bulged out, showing the activation of his doujutsu. Soon after Neji snarled. "I don't understand why you would use genjutsu in you previous fight to make it appear you have wings, but…"

Naruto laughing cut him off. "You can ask anyone, I don't have the chakra control to use genjutsu. No, what I did with my sensei's help was much more complicated than that." He turned his torso so Neji could see what looked like a tattoo at the base of the neck of two out-stretched wings making a ninety-degree angle, with the kanji for fallen in the gap between the wings.

--

Up in the stands, Ino looked over at her pink haired former friend. "Hey Forehead, I thought you said your sensei was training Sasuke."

"He was, I haven't seen either of them all month."

"Then who is he talking about?"

"Jiraiya the Toad Sannin." The answer came from three seats down where Hinata sat between Kiba and her father.

Sakura snorted. "Yeah right, like someone like Jiraiya-sama would waste his time on that idiot when he could train someone like Sasuke."

"I want nothing to do with the Uchiha." Almost every head in hearing range turned to look at the Sannin in shock. "In fact when this is over I plan on taking Naruto on as my apprentice." He turned to the Hyuga clan head and his expression turned comical. "Hiashi, it been a while! Is this your other daughter, uh Hanabi right?"

"Yes it has Jiraiya-sama. How may I ask did you know my daughter's name?"

"I heard Hinata telling Naruto about her. I must say you have two beautiful daughters, especially Hinata."

A tick mark appeared on Hiashi head and his eyebrow started to twitch. "I swear, if I find out you put her in your book…"

"There's nothing you could threaten to do that Naruto already hasn't, and as most people will tell you, he never goes back on his word."

--

Naruto was back to facing Neji completely. "So are we going to start, or just jabber all day, because I think the people watching are getting impatient." Naruto's wings appear on his back, but there was no puff of smoke like most of the shinobi had expected. One second there was nothing and the next two fully out-stretched black wings extended from Naruto's shoulder blades.

"Fine if you're in such a hurry to be shown as the pathetic loser you are, I'll end this now!" Neji ran forward and Naruto smirked as he held his arms out to the sides as far as they could reach.

In his hands two black orbs appeared, he put both of his hands in front of him so his waists were touching and the two combined into a large one. "Kage Heiki: Shuriken Renda!" From the orb shot hundreds of shuriken, and it was getting smaller with every one launched, forming a wall as far as his arms reached of the spinning blades.

Neji skid to a halt and started pushing chakra out of his whole body as he started to spin. "Hakkesho Kaiten!" While he was able to disperse most of the projectiles, as they went up in black smoke after they hit, he wasn't able to start spinning fast enough, allowing for the first few to hit him. "You cannot fight your fate, and it is futile to try! You might as well give up now, once a loser always a loser!"

"When the hell are you going to open your eyes Neji?! The only thing that is predestined is that sooner or later, we are going to die, that's it. What happens up until then is for us to decide. Hell more often than not, we can even choose the manner in which we die."

"You have no idea what it's like to have a seal upon you that marks you as less than human! You couldn't possibly understand!"

" I couldn't understand huh? You think you've got it so damn hard?! Try growing up alone, at least you knew your father before he died." As Naruto spoke he started walking closer to Neji.

When he got with fifteen feet to the Hyuga prodigy, Neji smirked. "You're within my range of divination. Hakke Rokujuyon Sho!"

As Neji closed the distance between them, Naruto slammed his hands together in the Hebi sign. "Hagane Uyoku no Yougo." His wings took on a metallic sheen as they wrapped around his sides and crossed over each other, forming a feathery barricade in front of him, leaving him only visible from the eyes up. Neji called out his strikes, and jumped back after finishing the move, his fingers sore as the wings hadn't only taken on the look of steel, but the hardness as well. Naruto's wings opened as the hand sign was released , and by extension the jutsu, returning them to their original luster. "I promised Hinata that I wouldn't hurt you too badly, but I would make you pay from what you did to her. I'll fulfill that promise now." A large amount of dust was kicked up as his wings flapped, launching him up into the air.

When he stopped going higher, he was able to look the Sandaime straight in the eyes and he slowly flapped his wings to keep him at that attitude. He couldn't keep the smile off his face and looked back on his first attempt to fly.

**Flashback:**

Naruto was standing on a tree branch fifteen feet up, over looking a clearing where Jiraiya stood looking up at him. "Uh sensei, are you sure about this?"

"Of course I'm sure, if you bothered to read once and a while, you would know that adult birds push their young out of the nest when they're old enough so they can learn to fly, it will work for you too. Just remember to keep flapping your wings when you jump."

"Okay." He was hesitant, but took a deep breath and took a running jump. It looked more like a dive than a jump, and it looked like he was going to face plant for a second before he spread his wings to full length and the wind caught him, slowing his decent. He smiled at what he accomplished, but it was soon gone as he realized the ground was still coming up fast and started to panic. 'I'm going to die! Why did I let Ero-sennin talk me into this?!'

"Flap your wings Gaki!" Naruto mind started working again and he threw his wings downward, pulling him out of the nosedive he had been in, but sending him soaring towards the tree line. On pure instinct, he turned his body and changed his course back the way he came. He heard clapping and laughter from Jiraiya, and started to smile again. "Way to go Gaki, you actually did it I was expecting to have to dig you out a few times at least. Now get down here so we can get on with training."

"Sensei, we have a problem."

"What's that?"

"I don't know how to get down."

"That's simple, you land."

"And how do I land?"

"Ohhh." Jiraiya got a contemplative look on his face and looked up at a nearby blue jay. "That's a good question."

**Flashback End:**

In the end he crashed, getting a mouth full of dirt and being laughed at by both Kyuubi and Jiraiya. After a few weeks worth of practice, thanks to Kage Bunshin two days, he was finally able to land safely and taught Hinata to do the same. Shaking his head out of his memories, he looked down at Neji and smirked. A small black orb formed at his navel and he curled in on himself, even bring his wings close to his body which caused him to started dropping like a rock.

--

In the stands, Hinata and Jiraiya shared a look when they saw Naruto flying upwards and Hinata turned to her father. "Tou-san, Imouto, you should turn off your Byakugan for this."

"Why Nee-san, what's he going to do?"

"A jutsu he created that leaves even the Byakugan blind."

Hiashi's eyes widened and he looked to Jiraiya. "Is that true?"

"Mostly. It leaves almost everyone blind, Naruto can see as clear as day. Hinata can as well as long as her Byakugan is active. As I'm sure you are aware, with the Byakugan, you see chakra as something close to lights, and the more used the brighter it is, well what he uses a massive amount of chakra and envelops both himself and his opponent."

"I see, but that doesn't explain why Hinata can see through it."

"Well, I'm not sure how to explain it myself, during training Naruto used it on both of us. Since he figured he'd have to use it in this match he asked Hinata to use her Byakugan. She agreed and used it knowing what she was supposed to see, but when she didn't she asked if he had used the jutsu yet. He had and they came to find me. After hearing what happened, I set up a test using flash tags." He got a heated glare from Hiashi. "Only enough to blind for a few seconds a minute tops, but when the went off she could see fine despite the light they produced. She described what one of Naruto's clones was doing from two hundred yards just after the flash." Jiraiya heard a few gasps and even a few screams and turned back to see Naruto falling. "Here it comes."

--

When Naruto got to be five feet from the ground, he threw all of his limbs outwards, and the orb expanded greatly. Once it touch the ground, it expanded at an increased, until it most of the arena floor. As it expanded, Genma jumped up on to the wall and Neji, whose Byakugan was on, put his hands over his eyes as his Doujutsu turned off out of reflex and screamed in pain. A soon as the dark dome stopped spreading, Naruto voice rang out from seemingly everywhere at once at a conversational volume. "Yami no Senkusha." There was the sound of an impact and Neji grunted in pain. "You should surrender, I have the advantage here, I can see you cannot."

"And what of the promise to make me pay? You barely touched me."

"This jutsu alone is how I intend you to pay, to be at the mercy of someone else, like she was at the end of the preliminaries. I however do not want to hurt you, but I will if you do not admit defeat."

"So even you admit she is weak to have been at my mercy. Fate decided I would win that match, just like it has this match."

"I never said she was weak. You are faster, I'll give you that, however she isn't the same shy girl she was then, and she doesn't want to hurt you because you are family. She is a kind, caring person and for some reason, you seem to think that makes her weak. It is because of those things that I told you she is strong in a way you could never understand. I'll give you one last chance to surrender, and then I'll finish it."

--

Right after Naruto started talking, Sakura shuddered, and Ino looked over at the pink haired girl. "What's wrong with you Forehead? Your teammate's doing great."

"The way he's talking, with his voice coming from everywhere like that, it reminds me of when our team run into Zabuza."

"It should, he got the idea from it." Both girls turned to look at Hinata again, and saw she had her Byakugan on. "Since he couldn't learn the jutsu Zabuza used, he replicated it using clones."

"Gaki may not be a genius in the classroom, but when it comes to thinking on the fly not many can compare. It's people like him that you want by your side when the shit hits the fan." At that moment both head Hiashi thought the same thing. 'Probably runs in the family… on both sides.'

--

"I will not surrender to some loser like you!"

Naruto sighed. "Then I'll end it now. Kage Buki: Katana." There was the sound of running and then silence as the dome began to fade out. When it did, there were five Narutos around Neji. One was in front of Neji, with a pitch black Katana pointed at his throat, while two other held Neji's arms, and anther two were half way out of he ground each holding a leg.

Genma dropped down from the wall and raised his arm into the air. "Winner Naruto Uzumaki."

Naruto's katana vanished in black smoke and the four clones released Neji before dismissing themselves as Naruto stood there looking at the Hyuga prodigy. "What do you want Uzumaki? You want to gloat? "

"No, I want to say that just because you have that seal on your forehead doesn't make you any less human. It will take time, but with enough support, Hinata can change the Hyuga Clan.'

"You put a lot of faith in her."

Naruto smiled wide. "Of course I do, she has the ability and she's gaining the confidence to use it in leaps and bounds."

"I think I'm beginning to see why." Neji motioned to the crowd and Naruto took notice for the first time, they were all cheering and clapping. They headed for the stairs together and Neji stopped at the bottom. "I don't have to go to the infirmary correct?"

"I wouldn't think so, the cuts were all pretty shallow, so the most you have to worry about is infection." Neji nodded and they started up the stairs heading for the stands.

**Jutsu List:**

**Kage Bunshin no Jutsu- Shadow Clones**

**Kage Heiki: Shuriken Renda****- Shadow Weapons :Shuriken Barrage**

**Hakkesho Kaiten- Eight Trigrams Palms Heavenly Spin**

**Hakke Rokujuyon Sho- Eight Trigrams Sixty-four Palms**

**Hagane Uyoku no Yougo- Protection of Steel Wings**

**Yami no Senkusha- Harbinger of Darkness**

**Kage Buki: Katana- Shadow Weapon: Katana**


	11. Chapter 11

When a once again wingless Naruto and Neji got to the top of the stairs they found Hinata there to meet them, with Naruto's cloak over her arm and a small container in her hand. She handed the container to Neji. "This ointment will help heal your wounds and will prevent infection Neji-nii-san."

Neji bowed slightly. "Thank you Hinata-sama. I would also like to apologize for my behavior and actions, I know I don't deserve it, but I ask for your forgiveness."

Hinata threw her arms around him in a hug. "You didn't have to ask, I already forgave you, now let's forget it happened."

"Thank you Hinata-sama." She smiled and let go of Neji to go over by Naruto. She gave him his cloak, which he threw over his arm and put the other around her when she kissed him on the cheek before leaning her head on his shoulder. Naruto raised an eyebrow when Neji bowed towards the door to he stands, but when he looked over there, he wasn't surprised when he saw Hiashi.

The clan head's lips were quirked up in a small smile. "You both fought well, though I would expect nothing less from my nephew and the young man I've allowed to date my Otome. Neji, when we return to the clan house, I would like to speak with you in private about an important matter."

"Yes Hiashi-sama."

"Good, now we should return to our seats, the next match is to begin soon."

Hiashi lead the small group back out to where the non-participating rookies were seated. The girls awed when they saw how Naruto and Hinata were standing, though Tenten and Hanabi were doing so in their heads so as not to ruin their reputations. Jiraiya came up from behind them and ruffed Naruto's already wild hair. "Congrats Gaki, you fought a good battle."

"Thanks sensei."

Everyone turned to the arena when the proctor spoke. "The second match will be Sasuke Uchiha vs. Gaara Sabaku. Will the participants please come down to the floor?" After several minutes neither had arrived and the proctor sighed as the crowd was getting restless. 'If they're this bad just from being kept waiting, I'm going to have things thrown at me for this.' "Since neither have shown, they are dis…" There was a small cloud of smoke as a chunin appeared beside Genma, and whispered something to him. Genma sent a questioning look up at the Kage box before turning back to the crowd. "Ladies and Gentlemen, because neither have shown up, this match will be pushed back to the end of the first round. So instead, the second match will be Shikamaru Nara vs. Choji Akimichi, will the participants please come down to the floor?"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Up in the viewing box, Choji and Shikamaru stood at the rail. 'This is such a drag, I don't want to fight Choji, he's been my best friend for years.'

"Hey Shika, I know you don't want to do this, I don't either, but I think we should."

"Choji?"

"Just because we have to fight doesn't mean we can't still be friends when it's over. No matter who wins, no hard feeling right?" Shikamaru smiled and nodded. "And please don't just let me win, I want you to try."

"Sure Choji." Both started down the stairs with smiles on their faces.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Of everyone in the group with Naruto, only Sakura and Ino were relieved when they herd that Sasuke and Gaara had more time to show up. Here are the thoughts of a few of the others:

Jiraiya: 'Damn that Uchiha loving council, damn sensei for letting them use him, he knows damn well that if it were anyone else they'd be disqualified. But instead he does this, which just encourages the little prick into thinking everything will just be given to him. And something wrong, why wouldn't the Suna boy be here?'

Kiba: 'This is bullshit, pushing the match back just for Sasuke. He'd better show up damn it, not only so I can see him get his ass kicked to see how he reacts to _**it**_.' An evil smile appeared on his face at the end of this thought.

Naruto: 'They want to give him special treatment fine, it just make my prank all the sweeter, and then watching him get his ass handed to him, if not by Gaara then by me.'

Hinata: 'Damn it, damn it, damn it! There are too many people around, I can't just jump him, what would Tou-san think, and Imouto, she's too young to see that, but just watching him fight Neji-nii-san and now being this close to him… Oh it's not fair.' **(I'm not sure if I should be kidding or not. On one hand, she's twelve and shouldn't be thinking like that, on the other I made her slightly perverted in Chapter 7 so why would now be any different, especially when she's also been exposed to Jiraiya's perverseness.)**

Jiraiya turned to Naruto. "Hey Gaki, there's something I need to check out, I'll try to get back for your next match, but I'm not making any promises."

Naruto shrugged slightly so as not to disturb Hinata. "Whatever, it'll be your loss if you don't sensei." In a swirl of leaves, Jiraiya was gone from his side.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The two friends stood across from each other, both silent as they waited for the proctor to start the match. Genma looked at both of them before speaking. "Second match begin."

Genma jumped back and Choji formed the Tori hand seal. "Bubun Baika no Jutsu!" His right arm grew in size and length and swung, pounding the ground where Shikamaru had been moments before. His arm returned to its normal size as he looked around for his friend.

Said shadow user was hidden behind a tree and taking short glances out into the field. 'Troublesome, he's too far away to get him with Kage Mane, but if he uses that move again, I may be able to get his arm's shadow. Though if he goes full size and use Nikudan Sensha, my Kage Mane won't be able to stop him.' Shikamaru was broken from his thoughts by a yell of Choji's previous jutsu. He jumped away as Choji's arm took down the tree he had hidden behind. When he landed, he formed the Nezumi hand sign. "Kage Mane no Jutsu." Shikamaru's shadow stretched out towards Choji's arm, but the arm shrunk back to its normal size just before the shadow made contact, and Shikamaru sighed. "Troublesome."

Choji smiled. 'Found you.' "Baika no Jutsu." His whole body expanded till it was over three times its normal size. His arms, legs and head retreated inside his body like a turtle does in its shell, and he started spinning in place to gain speed. "Nikudan Sensha no Jutsu!" Choji shot forward towards where the Shadow had come from, plowing over the trees in his path before he hit the arena wall. He popped his head out to look around and that's when he heard it.

"Kage Mane no Jutsu." A few seconds later his felt his body freeze up. "Sorry about this Choji. Kage Kubi Shibari no Jutsu." Shadow hand formed from their connected shadows and crept their way up Choji's body stopping just under Choji's neck. Genma announced Shikamaru the winner and the shadows receded along with Choji returning to normal size. "You made quite a mess with that last move Choji. It's a good thing I moved after using my jutsu, if I hadn't been run over I might have been crushed by a tree." Through it sounded like a scolding, Choji could hear the joking tone in his friend's voice. They both walked to the stairs with a smile on their faces.

Once both were in the stairwell, Genma turned back to the crowd. "The third match will be Temari Sabaku vs. Shino Aburame. Will the combatants please come to the floor?" Temari glided down on her fan, while Shino calmly walked down the stairs. He took his place across from her, with his back to the stairwell, while hers was to the destroyed wooded area. "Third match begin."

Shino pulled out three kunai in each hand and threw them at Temari, who dodged them easily. "Is that it? The bun haired girl put more effort into her throws." She took the fan off her back and swung it fully open. "Kamaitachi no Jutsu." Blades of wind shot towards Shino, but hit the spot he had been as he jumped to the side, but was hit mid-jump by a second blast. The moment he was hit, there was a pop and puff of smoke and in his place was a piece of broken wood that fell to the ground. Temari immediately turned around to the wooded area and swung her fan again. "Daikamaitachi no Jutsu!" A massive quantity of large wind blades were sent towards the broken trees, but there was another popping sound, and her eyes widened when she realized it had come from behind her. She turned around and was barely able to dodge the punch thrown by Shino. She jumped away from him and was able to take a quick look at his condition, his clothes were cut in several places and he had a small cut on his face as well as some blood running down his arm, but the worst seemed to be a cut on his chest. 'He took the attack and used henge at the last minute just to get me to turn around." She swung her fan at him again. "Kamaitachi no Jutsu." Again Shino jumped to the side, but he didn't do so fast enough and he took a hit to the arm, but he fell apart into thousands of bugs.

"Kikaichu no Jutsu." She spun half way round to find Shino with his arms stretched outward with more bugs flying in front of him. Temari sent another blast of air at him, only for the bugs to take the full blast by forming a wall, though it did knock them away. "Mushi Kabe no Jutsu."

Temari's fan was closed, and one end placed on the ground with her leaning against it and panting. 'What's going on, why am I so tired? I've never tired this quickly before, and I used way more attacks in my preliminary match.' She looked over at Shino, who was standing still. 'Is this his doing? It has to be, but he uses the bugs to suck his opponent dry of chakra, and he hasn't gotten any of them on me.'

"Surrender, you are nearly out of chakra, and I have no wish for more damage to be done by my bugs."

She glared at him. "You expect me to believe that bullshit? You haven't put a single bug on me."

"You're wrong, when I tried to punch you before I placed a single bug on you, a female. The female of the specie give off a distinct scent, that any male within a hundred yards can pick up on, such as the ones I had disguised as kunai that I threw behind you, the ones that made up the Mushi Bunshin, and even the ones that formed the Mushi Kabe." Her eyes widened and she looked down, her fan and clothes were crawling with the little insects. "Surrender or they will eat what's left of your chakra."

Temari raised her hand slowly. "I forfeit." Genma nodded and announce Shino the winner while the bugs retreated back to the young Aburame.

Genma noticed the same chunin from before at the entrance of the stairwell, and saw them shake their head, Genma sighed. "Ladies and gentlemen, the last two combatants have still yet to arrive, they will be given five more minutes to do so and then they _**will**_ be disqualified." He sent a glare up to the section of the stand where he knew the majority of the council was seated. As he said this Shino was helping Temari to the infirmary, though reluctantly on her part.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Up in the stands Sakura was getting really worried. "Why isn't he here yet, it's not like him to be late like this."

Naruto didn't even look slight concern. "Relax Sakura, he's with Kakashi, and you know how he is. They'll come last second in some big flashy entrance."

Kiba got up from his seat saying he was getting some snacks, but whispered as he passed Naruto. "He'd better show up, we put too much work into this to let it go to waste."

"He will, and even if he doesn't we can still do it, we just won't get the pleasure of seeing his reaction to it."

Hinata looked at Naruto with something akin to a glare after Kiba left. "You do realize that the people here aren't all from Konoha, most of them are politically important people from other countries, and at least eight Dynamos are here to watch the matches to see which village they should hire for missions. You could cost Konoha clients doing this now."

"That's why I'm waiting till just before the final match, to remove the tension from all the fighting. Besides everybody needs a good laugh every now and then, who knows, I may get Konoha some of the clients we wouldn't have gotten because I showed them that Konoha ninja know how to have fun as well as kick ass."

"That will happen the day Lee kisses Sakura."

Naruto looked at Sakura and noticed that Lee was sitting right behind her and he smiled evilly. "Hey Sakura." She turned around and Naruto pushed Lee forward with his foot, making their lips touch. Both of them got red in the face and pulled away.

Lee looked away while Sakura glared at Naruto. "What the hell Naruto, you made Lee steal my first kiss, I was saving it for Sasuke!"

Ino was next to her laughing. "Looks like I'll get Sasuke after all Forehead, since you seem quite taken with Lee if that blush is anything to go by." Sakura's glare turned to her, for which Naruto was thankful, who smiled at Hinata.

"Looks like that's today Tenshi." She just shook her head, but still had a smile and blush on her face.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Down in the arena, Genma was watching his watch. 'Five minutes are up, now just to announce it. "The time limit has expired, as such I declare both participant dis…"

There was a swirl of leaves beside him and when it dissipated, Sasuke, who was clad fully in black with bandages running down his left arm, and Kakashi were standing back to back. It was Kakashi who spoke up. "We're not late are we?"

"You cutting it damn close Kakashi, I was already made to pushed it back once had I finished my sentence you be disqualified."

"Oh good, so he gets to fight now?"

"No, his opponent didn't show up either he'll be up against Shino in the last match of the semi-finals, now get out of the fighting arena." He turned back to the crowd. "Since his opponent didn't show up on time, Sasuke Uchiha is advanced to the next round. The first match of the semi-finals is Naruto Uzumaki vs. Shikamaru Nara, will the combatants please come to the floor?" Kakashi grabbed Sasuke's shoulder and used Shunshin to transport both of them to the stands where the rest of the rookies were. They arrived just as Naruto entered the stairwell, Hinata holding his cloak again.

"So Naruto beat Neji? That's surprising considering he trained by himself over the month."

"Kakashi-sensei, you didn't know Jiraiya-sama trained him?"

Kakashi looked at Sakura like she was crazy. "Jiraiya-sama hasn't stepped foot in Konoha in years, I very much doubt he would return for something as trivial as the Chunin Exams."

"Jiraiya-sama is here in the village and he did train Naruto, he was even here for Naruto's match against my nephew, which is more than can be said for you, who is supposed to be the boy's sensei." He didn't even look at Hiashi, just buried his nose in his orange book.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Naruto stood across from Shikamaru, waiting for the proctor to start the fight, while Shikamaru looked like he wanted to be anywhere else. 'What a drag. First I have to fight Choji, now this troublesome blond. Maybe I should just forfeit, then again I did tell Choji I'd try, even if I'm not still up against him I did promise.'

Naruto noticed the look in Shikamaru's eyes change and couldn't help but smile. "First match of the semi-finals, begin."

As soon as the words were out, Shikamaru formed the Nezumi seal. "Kage Mane no Jutsu." His shadow shot forward, but when it reached its intended destination, its target was gone. There was the sound of an impact and Naruto was found in front of Shikamaru with his fist in the Nara's gut. Naruto saw the shadow emerge from beneath one of the partially knocked over trees and jumped away while the 'Shikamaru' turned into a log. 'Troublesome blond, he's even faster than he was during the preliminaries, I barely was able to use Kawarimi.' He looked out at the blond and his eyes widened. 'He was still wearing those weights?' He watched as Naruto started making hand signs. 'He knows Sasuke can just copy his jutsu, yet he does the hand signs in plain sight? What are you up to Naruto?'

When Naruto finished his hand signs, he bit his thumb and placed his hand against the ground where a circle with lines coming out of it appeared under his hand. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" Nearly everyone's eyes widened when a large cloud of smoke appeared, and they were popping out of their head when they saw what came out of it. Standing beside him was a brownish-red Nibi Kitsune.

"**Nice to see you again Naruto, I hope you followed my advice this time."**

"Don't worry Manako, we're not even close to that kind of opponent this time. He's over in the trees somewhere, but there are two things I need to tell you, one, no maiming or killing, and two, watch out for his shadow."

"**I'm not sure what you mean, but I'll keep it in mind."** Both of them went towards the fallen trees with different routes.

Shikamaru watched as they came closer to him from both sides. 'Naruto you troublesome blond, just when I think I got you, you go and pull something like this.' He sighed quietly. 'If I don't get him with this I might as well forfeit since I won't have the chakra to continue.' He whispered. "Kage Mane no Jutsu." His shadow slowly snaked its way beneath the fallen trees in Naruto's direction, hoping to catch him off guard.

However Naruto saw it as it came out from beneath the tree in front of him and formed a cross seal using his middle and index fingers and whispered. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu." The clone appeared right in front of him and was caught by the shadow as Naruto disappeared using his speed. Shikamaru felt his shadow catch and smiled, at least till he felt himself get hit on the back of the neck. Before he lost consciousness he heard Naruto's voice. "Sorry about that Shikamaru." After Shikamaru was out, Naruto picked him up and walked out of the rubble, Manako came out a little to the right of him. "Thanks for the help Manako."

"**Your welcome, though next time I hope to do a bit more fighting."**

Naruto smiled. "I'm sure you will, I've been known to get into trouble from time to time." She gave the kitsune equivalent of a smile before she dismissed herself. Naruto carried Shikamaru to the infirmary where he set him down on one of the open cots, before returning to the stands where he was met with glares from most of the older populace, and looks of awe from most of the younger.

When he reached his friends, Hinata threw her arms around his neck and kissed him. "You did great Naruto."

"Thanks Tenshi." He turned to Sasuke, who was smirking. "I guess it's your turn Sasuke, try not to show off everything Kakashi taught you in the first match, I'd like some surprises when I fight you, whether in the finals or some other time." Though Kakashi was surprised that Naruto hadn't called him sensei, he didn't show it.

"I guarantee it won't be much of a match, it doesn't matter who you learned under for the past month, not with what I learned."

He had expected a boast from the blond, but all he got was a smile. "We'll see."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Genma called the crowd's attention to himself so he could announce the next match. "The second match of the semi-finals will be Shino Aburame vs. Sasuke Uchiha. Would the combatants please come to the floor?" Again the chunin appeared beside Genma and whispered something, cause Genma to pinch the bridge of his nose and sigh as the chunin disappeared. "Ladies and gentlemen, due to the injuries he sustained in his last match, Shino Aburame is unable to fight and Sasuke Uchiha will advance to the finals. As per the rules of the Chunin Exams, there will be a fifteen minute reprieve for the finalists to recuperate." He then muttered under his breath. "Even though only one of them need it, since the other never even fought."

When Kakashi turned to talk to Naruto, he found him and Hinata walking away with Choji following them "Where are they going?"

It was Kurenai that answered in an irritated tone. "If you weren't so obsessed with that smutty book of yours Kakashi, you would have heard them say they were head to the infirmary to check on the others."

Kakashi nodded and went back to his book. 'I'll ask him what all he learned later.'

When they walked into the infirmary, they saw Shino sitting on a cot, his coat beside him, with wraps around his chest, arm, and a small bandage on his cheek. Temari was laying down on the one next to the one where Shikamaru was sitting, with a Shoji board between them. Naruto and Choji walked over to them while Hinata went to see Shino. "Good to see that you're up Shikamaru."

"No thanks to you, you troublesome blond. Did you have to hit me so hard?

"I said I was sorry, though you may not have heard me."

Shikamaru moved a piece on the board and looked over at Hinata and Shino. "I take it you're facing Sasuke next since Shino's still here."

"Yeah, asshole only had to show up to get into the finals and he almost didn't even do that. Got a fifteen minute reprieve though so that's nice, at least I don't have to go into the finals tired."

Shikamaru and Choji laughed lightly. "You tired? Ha. You probably have more stamina than the rest of the Rookie Nine combined."

Temari moved her piece as he said this and blinked. "Rookie Nine? What's that?"

"The teams that Naruto, Hinata, and I are on only graduated from the Academy six months ago, when we all got nominated for these exams, someone thought it was catchy and spread it around."

The three there looked at Naruto, who held up his hands defensively. "Hey, don't look at me, this is the first I've heard of it."

Hinata came over and placed a hand on his arm to get his attention. "We should get going soon so you're not late for you match Naruto."

"Alright Hinata." He turned back to the other three. "I'll see you guys later, I got to go embarrass Sasuke in front of hundreds of people and then kick his ass." The three were obviously confused, but two knew it better not to ask, and the other didn't care. Halfway down the hallway, they came across two chunin leaning against the wall, a male and female who both wore the leaf hitai-ate and the standard chunin attire and vest. The male had dark chocolate eyes and shaggy black hair, while the female had obsidian eyes and long straight black hair wrapped into a ponytail with white cloth. When they saw the couple coming they pushed off the wall and blocked their path. Naruto looked at them questioningly. "There something you two need?"

"We're here to offer you a deal. You go out there, put on a good show, and let the Uchiha win spectacularly, and the council will promote you to chunin."

"And if I refuse?"

"Then our orders are to kill you and then we'll have to kill your Hyuga girlfriend here to make sure we leave no loose ends. These finals are very nasty business, it wouldn't be the first time a combatant was killed by another country so their clients could win their bets."

Both of the chunin slowly reached towards their kunai pouches, but stiffened when they felt an arm draped over both their shoulders, accompanied by a voice every Leaf-nin knew. "I'd appreciate it if you two didn't threaten my newest student and his girlfriend. Cause I'm sure sensei wouldn't take kindly to hearing that you two were going to kill two Leaf genin just because one of them wouldn't throw the fight with some Uchiha, and since I know the council as well as I do, I know that if push comes to shove they'll deny any involvement with this. So had you done so, you'd have might as well kissed your asses goodbye." He turned his smiling face to Naruto. "You should get going gaki, you wouldn't want to be late for the Uchiha's ass kicking." Naruto smiled and gave Hinata a peck of the lips before disappearing in a swirl of black feathers. Jiraiya was still smiling, but shook his head. "Shall we go Hinata, wouldn't want to miss this." She nodded and walked away with Jiraiya, while the two chunin dropped to the ground with a relieved sigh.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Naruto appeared just inside the doorway to the arena and walks out to where Genma stands watching his watch, but catches the glance towards him. "Please tell me you're not going to forfeit."

"Not a chance, I've been waiting for this match for some time. How much time do we have left?"

"Three minutes, why?"

Naruto smiled so mischievously, it would send chills up anyone's spine. "Oh nothing much, but Sasuke needs to be down here for this, you think you could get him?"

"Is it going to harm him?" Naruto shook his head no. "Sasuke Uchiha, come down to the arena please."

Sasuke appeared in the arena in a swirl of leaves. "Time for the match?"

Naruto smiled. "Not just yet, I have something planned to help with the frustration most of these people are feeling having not been able to see you fight, since that's probably the only reason why they're here, and since it's because of you, I figured I'd see if you want to be the one to give the signal."

Sasuke snorted. "You really think I'm that stupid, you just want me to get in trouble for whatever your dumb prank is."

Naruto's smile widened. "If you think that, then you don't know me at all, I always take credit for my pranks, I just thought that this would look better if you did it, oh well." Naruto shrugged and turned to the stands. "Ladies and gentlemen, I know most of you have come to see Sasuke fight…" He was interrupted by loud booing. "And you'll be able to in a few moments, but before that, I ask that you turn your attention to the far wall." He himself turned and waved his arm above his head, seconds later a large roll went down the wall until it revealed the picture taken in the Forest of Death.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

**Bubun Baika no Jutsu- Partial Multi-sized Technique**

**Kage Mane no Jutsu- Shadow Imitation Technique**

**Baika no Jutsu- Multi-sized Technique**

**Nikudan Sensha no Jutsu- Human Bullet Tank Technique**

**Kage Kubi Shibari no Jutsu- Shadow Neck Bind Technique**

**Kamaitachi no Jutsu- Cutting Whirlwind Technique**

**Daikamaitachi no Jutsu- Great Cutting Whirlwind Technique**

**Kikaichu no Jutsu- Destrution Bug Host Technique**

**Mushi Kabe no Jutsu- Bug Wall Technique**

**Mushi Bunshin no Jutsu- Bug Clone Technique**

**Tenshi- Angel**

**Kuchiyose no Jutsu- Summoning Technique**

**Manako- Eye**


	12. Chapter 12

There was dead silence throughout the arena for about seven seconds as the roll continued down the wall, before there were gasps, roars of laughter, shouts that the photo was a fake, and Naruto even heard a faint 'Take that Ino-pig', but he really didn't care about those, he was waiting for Sasuke's reaction, and he wasn't disappointed. Sasuke's face was turning purple and he glared at the smiling blonde. "What's the meaning of this, why the hell would you do something like this?!"

"Hey, I just found the two of you like this when I came back from setting traps in the forest, I just thought that you'd want your fangirls to know you were taken."

"I don't like her!"

Naruto glanced at the photo, and then back at Sasuke. "Then why is there a smile on you face?" Sasuke looked over and sure enough the corners of his mouth were curled upward. His face got even redder before he started doing hand signs. When he finished he brought his hand up to his mouth and blew out a large fireball straight at the picture, making it go up in smoke literally. He returned his glared to Naruto, whose smile widened. "Is Sasuke-chan embarrassed?" Sasuke's left eyebrow started to twitch, and Genma stepped in.

"Alright since you both seem so eager to fight, let's get started. Ladies and gentlemen the final match of the Chunin Exams, Naruto Uzumaki vs. Sasuke Uchiha. Begin!"

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Jiraiya and Hinata arrived in the stands as Sasuke used Shunshin, and Kakashi's visible eye widened seeing him, but schooled his face quickly. "Jiraiya-sama, it's wonderful to see you. I understand you trained Naruto for the finals correct?"

"Yes I did, and I understand you didn't believe anyone here when they told you as much."

"It's just hard to believe you would come back simply for the Chunin Exams and wind up training a genin. Speaking of which, what all did you teach him over the month, since as his teacher, I need to know what my students are capable of."

Jiraiya smirked. "Then it doesn't really matter since Sensei and I signed the paperwork to make him my apprentice this morning. Gaki's got the greatest potential I've seen since Minato, maybe even more than him."

"I'll admit he has exceedingly large chakra reserves for his age, but that alone doesn't mean he has as much potential as you claim, and if he does, why has he never shown it?"

"Just because you've never seen it doesn't mean it doesn't exist, had you taken the time to train him like you have been the Uchiha, you would have seen it. In a single month, not only has he learn almost all of the jutsu I can teach him, but he learned to use his wings as they should be, created the seal that hides them with only a small contribution on my part, learned to use his wind element to a degree, and created five jutsu that can only be used by him and Hinata, through hers are slightly different. He used 25 clones for the first week and then dropping it down to five for the rest of the month, getting juts under ten months of training in, only giving him a few months worth of training over what he should have had after graduating in which he only learned the tree walking exercise."

"I would have trained Naruto over the month as well, if not for the fact that Sasuke was suppose to be up against Gaara in the first match, and had to be watched closely due to the curse mark placed on him."

"The only reason the Uchiha is still even in the finals is because of the council, and I am to check the suppression seal as soon as it is over. And as for him needing training to face Gaara, the only one even remotely capable of taking him on outside of a handful of Anbu, myself, and Sensei, is Naruto because they carry a similar burden."

Kakashi's eye widened at the implication. "You mean…" The toad Sannin nodded. "Then why wouldn't he show?"

"I honestly don't know, his teammates and sensei are here, but he's nowhere to be found." They both turned to see the photo completely unroll and Jiraiya smirked. "He definitely gets his sense of humor from Kushina." Though he was standing right beside him, Kakashi couldn't make out what the Toad Sannin said over the noise of the crowd.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Despite the fact that the proctor had started the match, neither had moved and Sasuke seemed to be calming down. "Feeling better?"

He didn't answer, but he put on his usual smirk. "You must be excited, you're getting the fight you've always wanted."

"Actually, I was hoping to get to fight Gaara. After what I saw in the forest, I was hoping to see first hand what he's capable of. He'd also be a good opponent to see how far I've come under Jiraiya-sensei."

"You really expect anyone to believe that Jiraiya of the Sannin train you of all people?"

"Let them believe what they want. Now, I think we've made them wait long enough to watch your match." Naruto rolled his neck, cracking it, as Sasuke's Sharingan came to life with two tomoes in each eye. "I see they've improved, well one of them at least." Naruto disappeared in the eyes of the crowd, but the Sharingan could still see him, and allowed Sasuke to counter a fist thrown at his head with a kick to the ribs. Naruto stumbled to the side a bit, but jumped back before the follow up strike could land. "You've gotten faster, Lee was moving about this speed when he kicked your ass, probably faster. But that's not the only similarity, the weights are still on." Naruto's wings spouted out of his back and with one powerful downward thrust, he shot into the sky.

Sasuke started forming hand seals. "That's not going to save you. Gokakyu no Jutsu." A large fireball shot out of Sasuke's mouth towards the airborne Naruto. The blonde was in the middle of removing his wrist weights when the fireball came at him, he push wind chakra into his wings and flapped them towards the oncoming ball of flames. A wall of wind collided with the flames, causing them to fan outwards before pushing them back and finally putting them out. While this was happening, he had pulled off the weights on his arms and hurled them down at Sasuke before letting those on his legs fall straight down. Sasuke was able to dodge due to his Sharingan, but the ground shook when the weights impacted the ground, leaving craters in the ground and offsetting his footing.

Naruto slowly lowered himself to the ground as Sasuke regained his footing and touched down under ten feet from the Uchiha. The blond shot forward so fast, the Sharingan was barely able to make out a blur before the Uchiha was sent crashing to the ground, bouncing and tumbling till he was just feet from the foot of the wall. "You know Sasuke, I was expecting this match to be a bit more heated, what with that bragging you did before the match, but so far you've only shown you've worked on speed, your Sharingan, and learned Shunshin. If that's all you thought you needed to pass, Gaara would have wiped the floor with you, that or smeared you on the walls."

Anger burned in Sasuke's eyes as he gritted his teeth. He pushed chakra into his legs and jumped backwards before focusing more into the soles of his feet to stick to the wall where he started forming hand seals and then grabbing his left wrist where lighting crackled to life. "Chidori."

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Hiashi glared at Kakashi as the sound of birds chirping filled the arena. "If that boy dies, you will be held responsible, and neither the council nor Kami herself will prevent the Uchiha's death."

"Naruto's not without his surprises Tou-san."

"The girl's right Hiashi, the gaki will be fine."

The rest of the rookies in the stands looked confused and Sakura voiced their shared question. "What's that jutsu Sasuke's using?"

Gai, never taking his eyes off the Uchiha, answered. "It's an assassination jutsu, Kakashi's sole original jutsu. It's actually a powered down one called Chidori due to the sound it produces, but its true name is Raikiri because it is said to have cut a bolt of lightning in two."

'I had no intention for it to be used against Naruto, or any Konoha ninja, but to be used to pieced the Suna no Tate that Gaara is rumored to have, and from what Jiraiya told me it would have probably been the only way for him to survive had he fought Gaara.' "This isn't why I taught him that jutsu, he was supposed to protect his comrades with it, not use it against them." The sound of chirping was drowned out by the sound of the wind picking up and Kakashi exposed eye widened when he saw what Naruto planned to counter with. "Impossible."

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Naruto watched as chakra became visible in Sasuke's hand and formed lightning. 'He's upped the ante, well then, I think I'll call. Let's see what you got Sasuke.' He held out his right hand and began gathering chakra. The wind picked up as he made it rotate in all directions within a sphere. It became stable as Sasuke started his descent from the wall. "Rasengan." When he reached the ground, there was a cloud of dust and Naruto started forwards as he emerged from the dust. They both brought their jutsu to bear as they ran towards each other. It looked to all on lookers, that the two jutsu would hit the other. Before they did though, Naruto change the direction of his attack and slammed it into the ground, sending both combatants flying backwards and kicking a large cloud of dust into the air. Sasuke collided with the wall he had been standing on and fell flat on his face, while Naruto crashed into the ground near the center of the arena. Sasuke slowly rose to his feet, the curse mark spreading across his face, as Naruto rolled on to his stomach and pushed himself up, his back to Sasuke. Neither were in too bad of shape, both had blood running down their faces, though Naruto's wounds were healing beneath the blood. Sasuke pulled out a kunai and hurled it at Naruto's exposed back, but before it reached its intended target, the blond vanished from his spot and reappeared in front of Sasuke, his leg speeding towards the Uchiha's head. Due to the boost of speed granted by the curse seal, Sasuke was able to bring his arm up to block. The impact caused a shockwave that cracked the earth beneath their feet. They disappeared from their spot and several more impacts were heard, along with seeing the cracks in the ground where they happened, before they appeared again across the arena.

Their right arms were thrown forward, their fist caught by the other's left hand. Even as the ground shifted, they both brought their knees up, causing another shockwave before bring them back down and trying with the other. There was a smirk on Sasuke's face while the tomoes in his red eyes spun. "I can see your every move before you make it, you can't win."

A smile appeared on Naruto's face. "Did you see this?" He brought his leg down as he brought his right arm back towards him and grabbed Sasuke's outstretched arm just below the elbow and at the wrist. He twisted as he pulled on the arm, bring Sasuke over his shoulder and then back first into the ground. Due to the already cracked ground, the impact shrouded the two in a cloud of dust. From the cloud shot a plume of dust from which Sasuke emerged. Before he even touched the ground, Sasuke had reached into the pouch on his left hip and pulled out six kunai, three in each hand, and hurled them into the cloud of dust. From within the settling cloud of dust was the sound of metal hitting metal. When the dust finally settled, Naruto stood there, his wings returned to the seal and returning a kunai to his pouch. "I think I've dragged this match out long enough."

To everyone but Gai, Jiraiya, and the two wearing Kage robes, Naruto vanished and Sasuke just fell flat on his face and started reverting back to normal when the blond appeared next to his weights. But those four had seen the blonde implant his fist into the Uchiha's stomach followed by an open handed hit to the back, knocking the boy to the ground and out cold. "The winner of the match and the Chunin Exam Tournament, Naruto Uzumaki!"

As Genma made his announcement, Naruto laid a scroll on the ground and sealed all four of the weights into it. 'I really should consider using seals like the one of my back for these.'

'**Kit, I feel several large chakra build ups just outside of the village walls, one of them is Shukaku, as well as two smaller ones from somewhere nearby.'**

Naruto made the cross sign. 'Tell Sensei what's happening, but to leave Shukaku to me.' "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu." With a puff of smoke two shadow clones stood next to him, one disappeared in a whirlwind of black feathers while the other carried Sasuke out of the arena. Suddenly there was an explosion from the Kage Viewing Box, and five columns of smoke came out of the main cloud and landed of the roof of a nearby building. Within seconds, a purple rectangular barrier sectioned off a large part of the roof. Naruto felt a rush of knowledge and then his anger rising. "Orochimaru." He spat out the name like venom and shot up into the air forming hand seals.

-----------------------------

The clone appeared in front of Jiraiya and feathers invaded his vision. With a pulse of chakra, the genjutsu was dispelled from everyone around him. "Jiraiya-sensei, there are several chakra build up around the village just outside the walls, one of which is Shukaku." The explosion in the Kage Viewing Box turned everyone's attention to it.

At the sight of the barrier, Jiraiya's eyes narrowed. "That's one of Orochimaru's jutsu. Everyone listen to me, I need to split up into two teams, one to go to the Academy to help protect the young ones, and the other to help those in the infirmary to the hospital and to help protect the patients there."

"Sensei, boss asks that you leave Shukaku to him, but if I know him, he'll going to try to help Ojii-san first." The clone turned to Hinata as Jiraiya Shunshined away. "He's going to need your help, without you he's likely to go fight beside Ojii-san as well."

Sakura looked at the clone confused. "How do you expect her to get up there to him, are you going to carry her?"

"I can't, my time's almost up, but trust me, she can get to him." The jonin were already fighting off the Oto and Suna ninja attacking in the stands. "The rest of you should do as Jiraiya-sensei said, it's going to take a little bit of time for our ninja to get where they need to be to mount a counter attack." The clone went up in smoke as all the genin but Hinata left.

"How do you plan to get up there to him Otome?"

"Naruto's not the only one with surprises Tou-san." The image of her coat wavered as though it was a mirage, showing her to be in the same light blue top she had worn when she met Naruto the night after the preliminaries. When she turned to face Naruto, Hiashi saw the same design as the seal on Naruto back in the same spot on Hinata, except that instead of the Kanji for 'Fallen', it was the for 'Angel'. From her shoulder blades sprouted two snow-white wings just as she jumped over the railing and then started towards Naruto.

Naruto saw her flying towards him as he finished the last seal and bit his thumb. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" He shoved his hand downward and chakra surged from it, exploding into a massive cloud of smoke. From within the smoke came a mighty roar as nine swishing tails cleared away the smoke to reveal Kyuubi in all his glory for all to see. "Keep Shukaku busy till I get there, I'd prefer not to have to kill Gaara."

"**He may not give you the option Kit, there is the chance you'll have to kill him to protect the village."** Kyuubi leapt over the wall, and raced off towards where he knew Shukaku to be. Hinata reached him as the giant fox leapt over the wall and hovered in front of him.

"Naruto, your clone said you'd try to help Hokage-sama and would probably need my help to do it."

Naruto smiled. "Well, he was me in a sense, and he was right. From what Jiraiya taught me about barriers, in order to dispel one, you either have to take out the one who put it up, destroy one of the markers, or hit it with a powerful blast at its the weakest point."

"Which is where, and even knowing where it is, what are we going to hit it with?"

"The point furthest from each marker, which in this case would be the center of the ceiling, and I think the only thing that's going to work is our combination attack."

"But we've never gotten it to work. You don't have the control."

"I know, that's why you're going to do it." He could see in her eyes that she was doubtful of her ability to do it, and he wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her on the lips. He placed his right hand on the back of her left. "I know you can do it Hinata, just believe in yourself like I believe in you." She smiled and stretched out her hand towards the barrier, his never leaving hers'.

An orb of light appeared before her hand, and slowly darkness mixed into it turning it into a glowing gray orb as it grew to two times its original size. They spoke as one as a coffin rose from the roof in front of Orochimaru. "Meian Heiyuu Batsu: Hakumei Tama." It doubled in size again as the coffin fully emerged from the roof and a second started peeking out. "Kasai!" The ball launched from their connected hands at extreme speeds. It exploded on contact with the barrier and when the smoke cleared, the barrier was gone, as was the second coffin. Four people stood looking around confused where the corners of the barrier were, each wearing white outfits with a thick purple rope tied around their waist. Until one with six arms noticed them, he turned his head towards them and from his mouth launched a net that appeared to be a large spider web at high speed before the Anbu on the roof attacked him, the other three, and moved to help the Sandaime against Orochimaru and the replica of the Shodaime that had emerged from the coffin.

Naruto felt Hinata's hand leave his just before he was shoved and sent tumbling to the side. He righted himself within seconds, just in time to see Hinata get ensnared by the net, trapping her wings against her body and causing her to drop towards the ground. "Hinata!" He propelled himself into an angled dive before withdrawing his wings into the seal and brought his arms to his sides. Because of these things, he sped up his decent and was able to get beneath her. In an instant, his wings reappeared and he forcefully changed his direction to go straight up beneath her. He caught her with little difficulty, and carried her to the concrete awning that covered the stands. As soon as he landed, he laid her down and took out a kunai. "Hinata, I need you to lay still, alright?" She gave a slight nod and he slipped the kunai under the webbing, careful not to cut her, and attempted to cut it, but the knife couldn't even scratch the net, in fact the blade was worn down rather quickly. He threw the kunai away in frustration. "Damn it, what's this shit made of?"

"Naruto it has chakra running through it, making it harder. You'll have to use chakra to cut it."

Naruto seemed to go into a trance for a second before he looked at her. "I need you to seal your wings." As her wings disappeared, a small gust of wind focus on Naruto's hand and a light blue blade formed at the tips of his middle and index fingers. He dragged the blade along the webbing that now lay on the concrete, leaving an inch deep cut into the concrete and freeing Hinata. A sudden shaking of the ground caused them to look towards the village where in the distance they could make out the forms of Kyuubi and Shukaku clashing along with several large toads facing off against equally large snakes. "We have to stop Gaara before they get any closer to the village."

"You go, I won't be much help against him, the two of you are on a whole other level from the rest of us. I'll be of more use at the academy, but promise me you'll be careful."

"I promise, and I'll tell you what, when this is over I'll take you out to dinner, but you have to be careful too."

She kissed him on the cheek and smiled. "Deal." They both took off into the air and towards their own destinations with the same thing on their minds. 'Please be safe.'

**Otome- Daughter**

**Meian Heiyuu Batsu: Hakumei Tama. Kasai!- Light and Darkness Combination Attack: Twilight Shot. Fire!**


End file.
